Single Idea 19424

[catalogued under 11. Knowledge Aims / A. Knowledge / 1. Knowledge]

Full Idea

Knowledge is either obscure or clear; clear ideas are either indistinct or distinct; distinct ideas are either adequate or inadequate, symbolic or intuitive; perfect knowledge is that which is both adequate and intuitive.

Gist of Idea

Knowledge needs clarity, distinctness, and adequacy, and it should be intuitive

Source

Gottfried Leibniz (Reflections on Knowledge, Truth and Ideas [1684], p.283)

Book Reference

Leibniz,Gottfried: 'Leibniz Selections', ed/tr. Wiener,Philip P. [Scribners 1951], p.283


A Reaction

This is Leibniz's expansion of Descartes's idea that knowledge rests on 'clear and distinct conceptions'. The ultimate target seems to be close to an Aristotelian 'real definition', which is comprehensive and precise. Does 'intuitive' mean coherent?