CORDEMOY, (LOUIS-)GRAUD DE

born c. 1620, , Paris died Oct. 8, 1684, Paris French historian and philosopher, who showed considerable originality in his development of the general principles of physical theory. He introduced a new atomism into the mechanistic system of Ren Descartes by linking unity and substantiality; matter is homogeneous but contains a multiplicity of bodies each of which is an individual substance. His works include Le Discernement du corps et de l'me (1666; The Differentiation of the Body and the Soul) and Lettre un savant religieux de la Comp. de Jsus (1668), on animal magnetism.