Post on 18-Jan-2016
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Leibniz1646-1716
Background Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was born in Leipzig,
Germany, on July 1, 1646 Leibniz was the son of a professor of moral
philosophy He was a personal aid to many noblemen.
Worked as legal advisor as well as official historian
Importance
• Leibniz made many significant advances in symbolic logic.
• Leibniz also tried to correct the errors of Cartesian metaphysics without throwing away its main structure.
Philosophy
• Leibniz’s philosophy, found in his Monadology and Essays in Theodicy, are summarized into three main principles….
Philosophy
• 1. The Principle of Identity
• 2. The Principle of Sufficient Reason
• 3. The Principle of Internal Harmony
Principle of Identity
• Leibniz divided all propositions into 2 kinds, Analytic and Synthetic.
Analytic Synthetic1. True by definition 1. Not true by definition
2. Necessary 2. Not Necessary
3. A Priori 3. A Posteriori
Identity
• Analytic Propositions were the positive counterpart of the principle of noncontradiction.
• This states that the negation of every analytic sentence is a self-contradiction.
• Analytic: – 1. All Bachelors are men– 2. 2+3= 5
Examples
• Synthetic Propositions:
• 1. The cat is on the mat• 2. In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue
Identity
• Leibniz claimed that all Synthetic sentences were Actually Analytic.
• Synthetic sentences were relative to time. (i.e. Fluffy the cat was on the sofa at time X.)
• From God’s point of view, all true sentences are necessarily true, even if it doesn’t seem to be for humans.
Identity
• The characteristic of Fluffy being on the sofa at time X is as much of a characteristic as Fluffy being a cat.
• This shows how Leibniz believed in a predestined world from God’s point of view.
Principle of Sufficient Reason
• Leibniz believed that for anything to exist, there must be a reason why it exists and why it exists as it does. These reasons should also be open to human inquiry.
• He claimed that this Principle was the Main Principle of Reality. Whoever rejected it was Irrational.
Example
• If Fluffy the cat is on the sofa, then there must be a reason that it exists at all.
• There must also be a reason why it exists on the sofa instead of on the roof.
Sufficient Reason
• Leibniz applied this way of thinking to the universe.
• Leibniz wondered why something existed rather than nothing.
• Leibniz concluded that there must be an uncaused cause, an all-perfect God who’s being was necessary.
Sufficient Reason
• According to Leibniz’s philosophy, one can prove the existence of God from rationality and the proposition that something exists instead of nothing.
Principle of Internal Harmony
• Leibniz believed that If there is a God, He must be both rational and good.
• God must also desire and be capable of creating the maximum existence possible:
(Metaphysical Perfection) &maximum activity possible :
( Moral Perfection)
Internal Harmony
• According to this, at creation, God created only the possibilities that would guarantee the maximum moral and metaphysical perfection.
• Leibniz also based his claim that this is the best of all possible worlds off of this.
Example
• Fluffy the cat MUST be on the sofa at 4:20. • If Fluffy the cat is not on the sofa at 4:20, then
it is not Fluffy the cat.
Monads
• Many philosophers following Descartes viewed reality as being made up of substances.
• According to Leibniz, these were Monads.Monads: units of psychic force.
• He believed that these were the simplest and realest “things” that existed.
Monads
• Monads were not a material substance.• Everything was a product of a monad or group
of monads.• He also believed that each monad is a mirror of
the entire universe. • He believed that these monads (or groups of
monads) were conscious.• Lastly, Leibniz believed that the clusters of
monads that were free, were human beings.