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Leibniz 1646-1716

Leibniz 1646-1716. Background Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was born in Leipzig, Germany, on July 1, 1646 Leibniz was the son of a professor of moral

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Page 1: Leibniz 1646-1716. Background  Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was born in Leipzig, Germany, on July 1, 1646  Leibniz was the son of a professor of moral

Leibniz1646-1716

Page 2: Leibniz 1646-1716. Background  Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was born in Leipzig, Germany, on July 1, 1646  Leibniz was the son of a professor of moral

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

Page 3: Leibniz 1646-1716. Background  Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was born in Leipzig, Germany, on July 1, 1646  Leibniz was the son of a professor of moral

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.

Page 4: Leibniz 1646-1716. Background  Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was born in Leipzig, Germany, on July 1, 1646  Leibniz was the son of a professor of moral

Philosophy

• Leibniz’s philosophy, found in his Monadology and Essays in Theodicy, are summarized into three main principles….

Page 5: Leibniz 1646-1716. Background  Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was born in Leipzig, Germany, on July 1, 1646  Leibniz was the son of a professor of moral

Philosophy

• 1. The Principle of Identity

• 2. The Principle of Sufficient Reason

• 3. The Principle of Internal Harmony

Page 6: Leibniz 1646-1716. Background  Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was born in Leipzig, Germany, on July 1, 1646  Leibniz was the son of a professor of moral

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

Page 7: Leibniz 1646-1716. Background  Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was born in Leipzig, Germany, on July 1, 1646  Leibniz was the son of a professor of moral

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

Page 8: Leibniz 1646-1716. Background  Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was born in Leipzig, Germany, on July 1, 1646  Leibniz was the son of a professor of moral

Examples

• Synthetic Propositions:

• 1. The cat is on the mat• 2. In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue

Page 9: Leibniz 1646-1716. Background  Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was born in Leipzig, Germany, on July 1, 1646  Leibniz was the son of a professor of moral

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.

Page 10: Leibniz 1646-1716. Background  Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was born in Leipzig, Germany, on July 1, 1646  Leibniz was the son of a professor of moral

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.

Page 11: Leibniz 1646-1716. Background  Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was born in Leipzig, Germany, on July 1, 1646  Leibniz was the son of a professor of moral

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.

Page 12: Leibniz 1646-1716. Background  Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was born in Leipzig, Germany, on July 1, 1646  Leibniz was the son of a professor of moral

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.

Page 13: Leibniz 1646-1716. Background  Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was born in Leipzig, Germany, on July 1, 1646  Leibniz was the son of a professor of moral

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.

Page 14: Leibniz 1646-1716. Background  Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was born in Leipzig, Germany, on July 1, 1646  Leibniz was the son of a professor of moral

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.

Page 15: Leibniz 1646-1716. Background  Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was born in Leipzig, Germany, on July 1, 1646  Leibniz was the son of a professor of moral

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)

Page 16: Leibniz 1646-1716. Background  Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was born in Leipzig, Germany, on July 1, 1646  Leibniz was the son of a professor of moral

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.

Page 17: Leibniz 1646-1716. Background  Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was born in Leipzig, Germany, on July 1, 1646  Leibniz was the son of a professor of moral

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.

Page 18: Leibniz 1646-1716. Background  Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was born in Leipzig, Germany, on July 1, 1646  Leibniz was the son of a professor of moral

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.

Page 19: Leibniz 1646-1716. Background  Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was born in Leipzig, Germany, on July 1, 1646  Leibniz was the son of a professor of moral

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.