Individuation and combinatorics mark the two poles between which the young Leibniz developed the first basic features of his metaphysics. The reconstruction of the principle of individuation in his early writings incorporates the historical background, names the relevant sources and deals with the question of Leibniz‹s significance for the reception of scholastic thought. In a systematic description, the author explains the connection between Leibniz' concept of individuation and his thoughts on combinatorics which followed soon after. The appendix contains the first German-Latin edition of the ‹Disputatio Metaphysica de Principio Individui‹ of 1663.
