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The correspondence exchanged between Leibniz and Hartsoeker sets the scene for a critical discussion of atomism. Leibniz’s strategy is to link criticism of atomism to a discussion about the status of chemical principles, to cast the atomist hypothesis as a fiction, and to employ the principle of sufficient reason as a theoretical tool for evaluating and ultimately disqualifying Hartsoeker’s position. The aim of this article is to question Leibniz’s use of fiction characterization (by putting the use we find in the correspondence with Hartsoeker into perspective alongside the complete range of uses Leibniz makes of fiction) and to expose the conflict of rationalities revolving around how the principle of sufficient reason is interpreted. This is done to show that the correspondence with Hartsoeker constitutes evidence that rational accord was, in this case, an impossibility.