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Single Idea 13183
[filed under theme 15. Nature of Minds / C. Capacities of Minds / 10. Conatus/Striving
]
Full Idea
Primitive forces can be nothing but the internal strivings [tendentia] of simple substances, striving by means of which they pass from perception to perception in accordance with a certain law of their nature.
Gist of Idea
Primitive forces are internal strivings of substances, acting according to their internal laws
Source
Gottfried Leibniz (Letters to Burcher De Volder [1706], 1704 or 1705)
Book Ref
Leibniz,Gottfried: 'Philosophical Essays', ed/tr. Arlew,R /Garber,D [Hackett 1989], p.181
A Reaction
'Perception' sounds a bit crazy, but he usually qualifies that sort of remark by saying that it is an 'analogy' with conscious willing souls. The 'internal strivings of substances' is a nice phrase for the basic powers in nature where explanations stop.
The
476 ideas
from Gottfried Leibniz
19392
|
I don't recommend universal doubt; we constantly seek reasons for things which are indubitable
[Leibniz]
|
12735
|
Everything has a fixed power, as required by God, and by the possibility of reasoning
[Leibniz]
|
16709
|
Some people return to scholastic mysterious qualities, disguising them as 'forces'
[Leibniz]
|
13192
|
Power is passive force, which is mass, and active force, which is entelechy or form
[Leibniz]
|
13193
|
Active force is not just potential for action, since it involves a real effort or striving
[Leibniz]
|
13194
|
God's laws would be meaningless without internal powers for following them
[Leibniz]
|
13195
|
To explain a house we must describe its use, as well as its parts
[Leibniz]
|
13196
|
All qualities of bodies reduce to forces
[Leibniz]
|
12742
|
A whole is just its parts, but there are no smallest parts, so only minds and perceptions exist
[Leibniz]
|
12693
|
A body is that which exists in space
[Leibniz]
|
12700
|
Form or soul gives unity and duration; matter gives multiplicity and change
[Leibniz]
|
12699
|
A body would be endless disunited parts, if it did not have a unifying form or soul
[Leibniz]
|
12736
|
If we understand God and his choices, we have a priori knowledge of contingent truths
[Leibniz, by Garber]
|
12698
|
Every body contains a kind of sense and appetite, or a soul
[Leibniz]
|
12734
|
Every necessary proposition is demonstrable to someone who understands
[Leibniz]
|
12733
|
Because of the definitions of cause, effect and power, cause and effect have the same power
[Leibniz]
|
12743
|
A true being must (unlike a chain) have united parts, with a substantial form as its subject
[Leibniz]
|
12714
|
The substantial form is the principle of action or the primitive force of acting
[Leibniz]
|
12710
|
As well as extension, bodies contain powers
[Leibniz]
|
12702
|
Causes can be inferred from perfect knowledge of their effects
[Leibniz]
|
12712
|
Substance is that which can act
[Leibniz]
|
12737
|
Nature can be fully explained by final causes alone, or by efficient causes alone
[Leibniz]
|
19389
|
Truth is a characteristic of possible thoughts
[Leibniz]
|
19388
|
True and false seem to pertain to thoughts, yet unthought propositions seem to be true or false
[Leibniz]
|
7558
|
Substances mirror God or the universe, each from its own viewpoint
[Leibniz]
|
2119
|
People argue for God's free will, but it isn't needed if God acts in perfection following supreme reason
[Leibniz]
|
5023
|
Future contingent events are certain, because God foresees them, but that doesn't make them necessary
[Leibniz]
|
12711
|
The immediate cause of movements is more real [than geometry]
[Leibniz]
|
5024
|
Knowledge doesn't just come from the senses; we know the self, substance, identity, being etc.
[Leibniz]
|
5025
|
Mind and body can't influence one another, but God wouldn't intervene in the daily routine
[Leibniz]
|
5026
|
Animals lack morality because they lack self-reflection
[Leibniz]
|
5027
|
If a person's memories became totally those of the King of China, he would be the King of China
[Leibniz]
|
13085
|
Leibniz is some form of haecceitist
[Leibniz, by Cover/O'Leary-Hawthorne]
|
19349
|
The complete notion of a substance implies all of its predicates or attributes
[Leibniz]
|
13088
|
Subjects include predicates, so full understanding of subjects reveals all the predicates
[Leibniz]
|
16761
|
Forms are of no value in physics, but are indispensable in metaphysics
[Leibniz]
|
19342
|
Reason avoids multiplying hypotheses or principles
[Leibniz]
|
5035
|
The two basics of reasoning are contradiction and sufficient reason
[Leibniz]
|
5037
|
God doesn't decide that Adam will sin, but that sinful Adam's existence is to be preferred
[Leibniz]
|
5038
|
Assume that mind and body follow their own laws, but God has harmonised them
[Leibniz]
|
12741
|
If experience is just a dream, it is still real enough if critical reason is never deceived
[Leibniz]
|
12740
|
The strongest criterion that phenomena show reality is success in prediction
[Leibniz]
|
12721
|
Light, heat and colour are apparent qualities, and so are motion, figure and extension
[Leibniz]
|
19387
|
Hypotheses come from induction, which is comparison of experiences
[Leibniz]
|
19400
|
Possibles demand existence, so as many of them as possible must actually exist
[Leibniz]
|
19401
|
God's sufficient reason for choosing reality is in the fitness or perfection of possibilities
[Leibniz]
|
19402
|
The actual universe is the richest composite of what is possible
[Leibniz]
|
5039
|
If non-existents are possible, their existence would replace what now exists, which cannot therefore be necessary
[Leibniz]
|
5040
|
Necessary truths can be analysed into original truths; contingent truths are infinitely analysable
[Leibniz]
|
5041
|
God does everything in a perfect way, and never acts contrary to reason
[Leibniz]
|
13159
|
Only God sees contingent truths a priori
[Leibniz]
|
13162
|
Sloth's Syllogism: either it can't happen, or it is inevitable without my effort
[Leibniz]
|
19339
|
Evil is a negation of good, which arises from non-being
[Leibniz]
|
13163
|
Circles must be bounded, so cannot be infinite
[Leibniz]
|
13164
|
God only made sin possible because a much greater good can be derived from it
[Leibniz]
|
13083
|
The essence is the necessary properties, and the concept includes what is contingent
[Leibniz]
|
19398
|
Minds are best explained by their ends, and bodies by efficient causes
[Leibniz]
|
19376
|
A machine is best defined by its final cause, which explains the roles of the parts
[Leibniz]
|
19405
|
Substances are in harmony, because they each express the one reality in themselves
[Leibniz]
|
2116
|
The concept of an existing thing must contain more than the concept of a non-existing thing
[Leibniz]
|
13082
|
The complete concept of an individual includes contingent properties, as well as necessary ones
[Leibniz]
|
19399
|
Prime matter is nothing when it is at rest
[Leibniz]
|
22908
|
When one element contains the grounds of the other, the first one is prior in time
[Leibniz]
|
7931
|
If a substance is just a thing that has properties, it seems to be a characterless non-entity
[Leibniz, by Macdonald,C]
|
7644
|
The monad idea incomprehensibly spiritualises matter, instead of materialising soul
[La Mettrie on Leibniz]
|
11857
|
He replaced Aristotelian continuants with monads
[Leibniz, by Wiggins]
|
7843
|
Is a drop of urine really an infinity of thinking monads?
[Voltaire on Leibniz]
|
12751
|
It is unclear in 'Monadology' how extended bodies relate to mind-like monads.
[Garber on Leibniz]
|
12707
|
The true elements are atomic monads
[Leibniz]
|
17554
|
There must be some internal difference between any two beings in nature
[Leibniz]
|
19363
|
Changes in a monad come from an internal principle, and the diversity within its substance
[Leibniz]
|
2109
|
Increase a conscious machine to the size of a mill - you still won't see perceptions in it
[Leibniz]
|
19352
|
A 'monad' has basic perception and appetite; a 'soul' has distinct perception and memory
[Leibniz]
|
2110
|
We all expect the sun to rise tomorrow by experience, but astronomers expect it by reason
[Leibniz]
|
19362
|
We know the 'I' and its contents by abstraction from awareness of necessary truths
[Leibniz]
|
2111
|
Falsehood involves a contradiction, and truth is contradictory of falsehood
[Leibniz]
|
4642
|
No fact can be real and no proposition true unless there is a Sufficient Reason (even if we can't know it)
[Leibniz]
|
2112
|
Truths of reason are known by analysis, and are necessary; facts are contingent, and their opposites possible
[Leibniz]
|
9344
|
Mathematical analysis ends in primitive principles, which cannot be and need not be demonstrated
[Leibniz]
|
2113
|
God alone (the Necessary Being) has the privilege that He must exist if He is possible
[Leibniz]
|
2114
|
This is the most perfect possible universe, in its combination of variety with order
[Leibniz]
|
2115
|
Everything in the universe is interconnected, so potentially a mind could know everything
[Leibniz]
|
2595
|
If the universe is a perfect agreement of uncommunicating substances, there must be a common source
[Leibniz]
|
2596
|
Maybe mind and body are parallel, like two good clocks
[Leibniz]
|
5063
|
Music charms, although its beauty is the harmony of numbers
[Leibniz]
|
19353
|
'Perception' is basic internal representation, and 'apperception' is reflective knowledge of perception
[Leibniz]
|
5061
|
Animals are semi-rational because they connect facts, but they don't see causes
[Leibniz]
|
5062
|
First: there must be reasons; Second: why anything at all?; Third: why this?
[Leibniz]
|
19377
|
A monad and its body are living, so life is everywhere, and comes in infinite degrees
[Leibniz]
|
12755
|
Final causes can help with explanations in physics
[Leibniz]
|
11854
|
If there is some trace of God in things, that would explain their natural force
[Leibniz]
|
12756
|
Substance is a force for acting and being acted upon
[Leibniz]
|
12758
|
It is plausible to think substances contain the same immanent force seen in our free will
[Leibniz]
|
12759
|
There are atoms of substance, but no atoms of bulk or extension
[Leibniz]
|
12718
|
Secondary matter is active and complete; primary matter is passive and incomplete
[Leibniz]
|
12760
|
Something rather like souls (though not intelligent) could be found everywhere
[Leibniz]
|
19408
|
To say that nature or the one universal substance is God is a pernicious doctrine
[Leibniz]
|
5058
|
Animals have thought and sensation, and indestructible immaterial souls
[Leibniz]
|
5054
|
Animal thought is a shadow of reasoning, connecting sequences of images by imagination
[Leibniz]
|
5057
|
If you fully understand a subject and its qualities, you see how the second derive from the first
[Leibniz]
|
5055
|
No two things are totally identical
[Leibniz]
|
5053
|
The instances confirming a general truth are never enough to establish its necessity
[Leibniz]
|
5056
|
Material or immaterial substances cannot be conceived without their essential activity
[Leibniz]
|
11855
|
Substances cannot be bare, but have activity as their essence
[Leibniz]
|
11856
|
Qualities should be predictable from the nature of the subject
[Leibniz]
|
12931
|
Particular truths are just instances of general truths
[Leibniz]
|
4302
|
You may experience a universal truth, but only reason can tell you that it is always true
[Leibniz]
|
12930
|
The senses are confused, and necessities come from distinct intellectual ideas
[Leibniz]
|
12929
|
All of our thoughts come from within the soul, and not from the senses
[Leibniz]
|
12933
|
Arithmetic and geometry are implicitly innate, awaiting revelation
[Leibniz]
|
17079
|
Proofs of necessity come from the understanding, where they have their source
[Leibniz]
|
12932
|
The idea of being must come from our own existence
[Leibniz]
|
19360
|
General principles, even if unconscious, are indispensable for thinking
[Leibniz]
|
12937
|
We shouldn't just accept Euclid's axioms, but try to demonstrate them
[Leibniz]
|
12935
|
Every feeling is the perception of a truth
[Leibniz]
|
12936
|
There are natural rewards and punishments, like illness after over-indulgence
[Leibniz]
|
12934
|
We can't want everyone to have more than their share, so a further standard is needed
[Leibniz]
|
12944
|
It is a serious mistake to think that we are aware of all of our perceptions
[Leibniz]
|
12942
|
Memory doesn't make identity; a man who relearned everything would still be the same man
[Leibniz]
|
12938
|
An idea is an independent inner object, which expresses the qualities of things
[Leibniz]
|
12945
|
Thoughts correspond to sensations, but ideas are independent of thoughts
[Leibniz]
|
12940
|
What is left of the 'blank page' if you remove the ideas?
[Leibniz]
|
12943
|
Individuality is in the bond substance gives between past and future
[Leibniz]
|
12941
|
There cannot be power without action; the power is a disposition to act
[Leibniz]
|
12939
|
Wholly uniform things like space and numbers are mere abstractions
[Leibniz]
|
12946
|
The idea of the will includes the understanding
[Leibniz]
|
19357
|
The idea of green seems simple, but it must be compounded of the ideas of blue and yellow
[Leibniz]
|
12947
|
We only believe in sensible things when reason helps the senses
[Leibniz]
|
19358
|
Colour and pain must express the nature of their stimuli, without exact resemblance
[Leibniz]
|
12948
|
A pain doesn't resemble the movement of a pin, but it resembles the bodily movement pins cause
[Leibniz]
|
12949
|
Light takes time to reach us, so objects we see may now not exist
[Leibniz]
|
12950
|
We must distinguish images from exact defined ideas
[Leibniz]
|
12951
|
Abstraction attends to the general, not the particular, and involves universal truths
[Leibniz]
|
12952
|
Space is an order among actual and possible things
[Leibniz]
|
12953
|
Fluidity is basic, and we divide into bodies according to our needs
[Leibniz]
|
12956
|
Only whole numbers are multitudes of units
[Leibniz]
|
12955
|
If there were duration without change, we could never establish its length
[Leibniz]
|
12954
|
God's essence is the source of possibilities, and his will the source of existents
[Leibniz]
|
12957
|
The good is the virtuous, the pleasing, or the useful
[Leibniz]
|
12958
|
Love is pleasure in the perfection, well-being or happiness of its object
[Leibniz]
|
12964
|
If would be absurd not to disagree with someone's taste if it was a taste for poisons
[Leibniz]
|
19368
|
The will determines action, by what is seen as good, but it does not necessitate it
[Leibniz]
|
19364
|
Volition automatically endeavours to move towards what it sees as good (and away from bad)
[Leibniz]
|
12962
|
Pleasure is a sense of perfection
[Leibniz]
|
12963
|
Opposing reason is opposing truth, since reason is a chain of truths
[Leibniz]
|
12959
|
We discern active power from our minds, so mind must be involved in all active powers
[Leibniz]
|
12965
|
All occurrence in the depth of a substance is spontaneous 'action'
[Leibniz]
|
12960
|
We understand things when they are distinct, and we can derive necessities from them
[Leibniz]
|
19328
|
Without the principle of sufficient reason, God's existence could not be demonstrated
[Leibniz]
|
12967
|
I use the word 'entelechy' for a power, to include endeavour, as well as mere aptitude
[Leibniz]
|
12966
|
Objects of ideas can be divided into abstract and concrete, and then further subdivided
[Leibniz]
|
12969
|
The active powers which are not essential to the substance are the 'real qualities'
[Leibniz]
|
12968
|
A 'substratum' is just a metaphor for whatever supports several predicates
[Leibniz]
|
12972
|
Bodies, like Theseus's ship, are only the same in appearance, and never strictly the same
[Leibniz]
|
13098
|
We use things to distinguish places and times, not vice versa
[Leibniz]
|
12971
|
If two individuals could be indistinguishable, there could be no principle of individuation
[Leibniz]
|
12970
|
We can imagine two bodies interpenetrating, as two rays of light seem to
[Leibniz]
|
13075
|
No two things are quite the same, so there must be an internal principle of distinction
[Leibniz]
|
12973
|
We know our own identity by psychological continuity, even if there are some gaps
[Leibniz]
|
12884
|
The same whole ceases to exist if a part is lost
[Leibniz]
|
12974
|
People who can't apply names usually don't understand the thing to which it applies
[Leibniz]
|
12976
|
If our ideas of a thing are imperfect, the thing can have several unconnected definitions
[Leibniz]
|
12975
|
We have a distinct idea of gold, to define it, but not a perfect idea, to understand it
[Leibniz]
|
12978
|
A perfect idea of an object shows that the object is possible
[Leibniz]
|
12977
|
We will only connect our various definitions of gold when we understand it more deeply
[Leibniz]
|
12981
|
Essence is just the possibility of a thing
[Leibniz]
|
12979
|
The only way we can determine individuals is by keeping hold of them
[Leibniz]
|
12982
|
One essence can be expressed by several definitions
[Leibniz]
|
12984
|
Real definitions, unlike nominal definitions, display possibilities
[Leibniz]
|
12983
|
A nominal definition is of the qualities, but the real definition is of the essential inner structure
[Leibniz]
|
12980
|
Genus and differentia might be swapped, and 'rational animal' become 'animable rational'
[Leibniz]
|
12985
|
Maybe motion is definable as 'change of place'
[Leibniz]
|
12986
|
The essence of baldness is vague and imperfect
[Leibniz]
|
12987
|
For some sorts, a member of it is necessarily a member
[Leibniz]
|
12989
|
Our true divisions of nature match reality, but are probably incomplete
[Leibniz]
|
12988
|
The universe contains everything possible for its perfect harmony
[Leibniz]
|
12990
|
Real (non-logical) abstract terms are either essences or accidents
[Leibniz]
|
12991
|
Children learn language fast, with little instruction and few definitions
[Leibniz]
|
12993
|
Have five categories - substance, quantity, quality, action/passion, relation - and their combinations
[Leibniz]
|
12992
|
Logic teaches us how to order and connect our thoughts
[Leibniz]
|
12994
|
Gold has a real essence, unknown to us, which produces its properties
[Leibniz]
|
12995
|
The name 'gold' means what we know of gold, and also further facts about it which only others know
[Leibniz]
|
12811
|
We can't know individuals, or determine their exact individuality
[Leibniz]
|
12996
|
I know more than I think, since I know I think A then B then C
[Leibniz]
|
12998
|
Understanding grasps the agreements and disagreements of ideas
[Leibniz]
|
12997
|
Analysis is the art of finding the middle term
[Leibniz]
|
12999
|
Substances are primary powers; their ways of being are the derivative powers
[Leibniz]
|
13000
|
Truth is correspondence between mental propositions and what they are about
[Leibniz]
|
13002
|
It is always good to reduce the number of axioms
[Leibniz]
|
13001
|
Our sensation of green is a confused idea, like objects blurred by movement
[Leibniz]
|
13003
|
The Cogito doesn't prove existence, because 'I am thinking' already includes 'I am'
[Leibniz]
|
13005
|
Truth arises among sensations from grounding reasons and from regularities
[Leibniz]
|
13006
|
Certainty is where practical doubt is insane, or at least blameworthy
[Leibniz]
|
10056
|
At bottom eternal truths are all conditional
[Leibniz]
|
13008
|
Geometry, unlike sensation, lets us glimpse eternal truths and their necessity
[Leibniz]
|
13009
|
A reason is a known truth which leads to assent to some further truth
[Leibniz]
|
12805
|
If two people apply a single term to different resemblances, they refer to two different things
[Leibniz]
|
12806
|
Locke needs many instances to show a natural kind, but why not a single instance?
[Leibniz, by Jolley]
|
12808
|
Part of our idea of gold is its real essence, which is not known to us in detail
[Leibniz]
|
12807
|
The word 'gold' means a hidden constitution known to experts, and not just its appearances
[Leibniz]
|
21252
|
Perfections must have overlapping parts if their incompatibility is to be proved
[Leibniz]
|
1414
|
A perfection is a simple quality, which is positive and absolute, and has no limit
[Leibniz]
|
21253
|
Descartes needs to demonstrate how other people can attain his clear and distinct conceptions
[Leibniz]
|
5044
|
Reality must be made of basic unities, which will be animated, substantial points
[Leibniz]
|
5043
|
To regard animals as mere machines may be possible, but seems improbable
[Leibniz]
|
5045
|
No machine or mere organised matter could have a unified self
[Leibniz]
|
13167
|
We need the metaphysical notion of force to explain mechanics, and not just extended mass
[Leibniz]
|
13168
|
My formal unifying atoms are substantial forms, which are forces like appetites
[Leibniz]
|
13169
|
I call Aristotle's entelechies 'primitive forces', which originate activity
[Leibniz]
|
13170
|
The analysis of things leads to atoms of substance, which found both composition and action
[Leibniz]
|
13171
|
Substance must necessarily involve progress and change
[Leibniz]
|
5046
|
The soul does know bodies, although they do not influence one another
[Leibniz]
|
12694
|
Essence is the distinct thinkability of anything
[Leibniz]
|
5020
|
Our thoughts are either dependent, or self-evident. All thoughts seem to end in the self-evident
[Leibniz]
|
5019
|
Supreme human happiness is the greatest possible increase of his perfection
[Leibniz]
|
5021
|
An idea is analysed perfectly when it is shown a priori that it is possible
[Leibniz]
|
19350
|
We should say that body is mechanism and soul is immaterial, asserting their independence
[Leibniz]
|
19355
|
The soul doesn't understand many of its own actions, if perceptions are confused and desires buried
[Leibniz]
|
19356
|
Minds unconsciously count vibration beats in music, and enjoy it when they coincide
[Leibniz]
|
13161
|
Substances are everywhere in matter, like points in a line
[Leibniz]
|
13160
|
To exist and be understood, a multitude must first be reduced to a unity
[Leibniz]
|
5042
|
For every event it is possible for an omniscient being to give a reason for its occurrence
[Leibniz]
|
19424
|
Knowledge needs clarity, distinctness, and adequacy, and it should be intuitive
[Leibniz]
|
19425
|
In the schools the Four Causes are just lumped together in a very obscure way
[Leibniz]
|
19426
|
'Nominal' definitions just list distinguishing characteristics
[Leibniz]
|
19427
|
True ideas represent what is possible; false ideas represent contradictions
[Leibniz]
|
12709
|
Motion is not absolute, but consists in relation
[Leibniz]
|
12738
|
Successful prediction shows proficiency in nature
[Leibniz]
|
12739
|
If we are dreaming, it is sufficient that the events are coherent, and obey laws
[Leibniz]
|
19404
|
Necessities rest on contradiction, and contingencies on sufficient reason
[Leibniz]
|
19403
|
Each of the infinite possible worlds has its own laws, and the individuals contain those laws
[Leibniz]
|
19396
|
Wisdom is knowing all of the sciences, and their application
[Leibniz]
|
19397
|
Perfect knowledge implies complete explanations and perfect prediction
[Leibniz]
|
7696
|
Leibniz first asked 'why is there something rather than nothing?'
[Leibniz, by Jacquette]
|
5047
|
The world is physically necessary, as its contrary would imply imperfection or moral absurdity
[Leibniz]
|
19341
|
There must be a straining towards existence in the essence of all possible things
[Leibniz]
|
19343
|
We follow the practical rule which always seeks maximum effect for minimum cost
[Leibniz]
|
19336
|
Wisdom involves the desire to achieve perfection
[Leibniz]
|
19428
|
Because something does exist, there must be a drive in possible things towards existence
[Leibniz]
|
19429
|
The principle of determination in things obtains the greatest effect with the least effort
[Leibniz]
|
12697
|
Indivisibles are not parts, but the extrema of parts
[Leibniz]
|
12727
|
It's impossible, but imagine a body carrying on normally, but with no mind
[Leibniz]
|
9155
|
An a priori proof is independent of experience
[Leibniz]
|
12716
|
The concept of forces or powers best reveals the true concept of substance
[Leibniz]
|
19416
|
Not all of matter is animated, any more than a pond full of living fish is animated
[Leibniz]
|
19417
|
All substances are in harmony, even though separate, so they must have one divine cause
[Leibniz]
|
19418
|
Mechanics shows that all motion originates in other motion, so there is a Prime Mover
[Leibniz]
|
19420
|
Death and generation are just transformations of an animal, augmented or diminished
[Leibniz]
|
19419
|
Not all of perception is accompanied by consciousness
[Leibniz]
|
19421
|
Souls act as if there were no bodies, and bodies act as if there were no souls
[Leibniz]
|
19422
|
Every particle of matter contains organic bodies
[Leibniz]
|
5059
|
Power rules in efficient causes, but wisdom rules in connecting them to final causes
[Leibniz]
|
5060
|
All substances analyse down to simple substances, which are souls, or 'monads'
[Leibniz]
|
19394
|
Inequality can be brought infinitely close to equality
[Leibniz]
|
19395
|
Philosophy is sanctified, because it flows from God
[Leibniz]
|
19382
|
Abstracta are abbreviated ways of talking; there are just substances, and truths about them
[Leibniz]
|
13157
|
Choose the true hypothesis, which is the most intelligible one
[Leibniz]
|
13158
|
The Copernican theory is right because it is the only one offering a good explanation
[Leibniz]
|
19384
|
Space and time are the order of all possibilities, and don't just relate to what is actual
[Leibniz]
|
19406
|
I strongly believe in the actual infinite, which indicates the perfections of its author
[Leibniz]
|
5048
|
Perfection is simply quantity of reality
[Leibniz]
|
5049
|
Intelligent pleasure is the perception of beauty, order and perfection
[Leibniz]
|
5050
|
Evil serves a greater good, and pain is necessary for higher pleasure
[Leibniz]
|
13099
|
Analysing right down to primitive concepts seems beyond our powers
[Leibniz]
|
5022
|
We hold a proposition true if we are ready to follow it, and can't see any objections
[Leibniz]
|
12729
|
The cause of a change is not the real influence, but whatever gives a reason for the change
[Leibniz]
|
19437
|
Prayers are useful, because God foresaw them in his great plan
[Leibniz]
|
19337
|
How can an all-good, wise and powerful being allow evil, sin and apparent injustice?
[Leibniz]
|
19345
|
Being confident of God's goodness, we disregard the apparent local evils in the visible world
[Leibniz]
|
19326
|
God must be intelligible, to select the actual world from the possibilities
[Leibniz]
|
19325
|
God is the first reason of things; our experiences are contingent, and contain no necessity
[Leibniz]
|
19327
|
The intelligent cause must be unique and all-perfect, to handle all the interconnected possibilities
[Leibniz]
|
19346
|
Most people facing death would happily re-live a similar life, with just a bit of variety
[Leibniz]
|
19340
|
Metaphysical evil is imperfection; physical evil is suffering; moral evil is sin
[Leibniz]
|
19331
|
Will is an inclination to pursue something good
[Leibniz]
|
19367
|
Saying we must will whatever we decide to will leads to an infinite regress
[Leibniz]
|
19351
|
Perfections of soul subordinate the body, but imperfections of soul submit to the body
[Leibniz]
|
19344
|
God prefers men to lions, but might not exterminate lions to save one man
[Leibniz]
|
19335
|
Reasonings have a natural ordering in God's understanding, but only a temporal order in ours
[Leibniz]
|
19330
|
If justice is arbitrary, or fixed but not observed, or not human justice, this undermines God
[Leibniz]
|
19329
|
The laws of physics are wonderful evidence of an intelligent and free being
[Leibniz]
|
19366
|
You can't assess moral actions without referring to the qualities of character that produce them
[Leibniz]
|
15955
|
I think the corpuscular theory, rather than forms or qualities, best explains particular phenomena
[Leibniz]
|
12903
|
Wise people have fewer acts of will, because such acts are linked together
[Leibniz]
|
5031
|
Everything which happens is not necessary, but is certain after God chooses this universe
[Leibniz]
|
5030
|
Miracles are extraordinary operations by God, but are nevertheless part of his design
[Leibniz]
|
12905
|
I cannot think my non-existence, nor exist without being myself
[Leibniz]
|
12904
|
If varieties of myself can be conceived of as distinct from me, then they are not me
[Leibniz]
|
12906
|
Truths about species are eternal or necessary, but individual truths concern what exists
[Leibniz]
|
13077
|
Basic predicates give the complete concept, which then predicts all of the actions
[Leibniz]
|
13089
|
To fully conceive the subject is to explain the resulting predicates and events
[Leibniz]
|
12907
|
Each possible world contains its own laws, reflected in the possible individuals of that world
[Leibniz]
|
11981
|
If someone's life went differently, then that would be another individual
[Leibniz]
|
19334
|
I can't just know myself to be a substance; I must distinguish myself from others, which is hard
[Leibniz]
|
19333
|
A truth is just a proposition in which the predicate is contained within the subject
[Leibniz]
|
12910
|
The predicate is in the subject of a true proposition
[Leibniz]
|
12913
|
Nature is explained by mathematics and mechanism, but the laws rest on metaphysics
[Leibniz]
|
12908
|
Essences exist in the divine understanding
[Leibniz]
|
12911
|
Concepts are what unite a proposition
[Leibniz]
|
12909
|
Everything, even miracles, belongs to order
[Leibniz]
|
12912
|
Immortality without memory is useless
[Leibniz]
|
12914
|
Metaphysics is geometrical, resting on non-contradiction and sufficient reason
[Leibniz]
|
12915
|
Definitions can only be real if the item is possible
[Leibniz]
|
12916
|
A body is a unified aggregate, unless it has an indivisible substance
[Leibniz]
|
12917
|
The soul is indestructible and always self-aware
[Leibniz]
|
12918
|
Animals have souls, but lack consciousness
[Leibniz]
|
12919
|
Unity needs an indestructible substance, to contain everything which will happen to it
[Leibniz]
|
5032
|
It seems probable that animals have souls, but not consciousness
[Leibniz]
|
12319
|
What is not truly one being is not truly a being either
[Leibniz]
|
12920
|
There is no multiplicity without true units
[Leibniz]
|
12704
|
Aggregates dont reduce to points, or atoms, or illusion, so must reduce to substance
[Leibniz]
|
12921
|
Accidental unity has degrees, from a mob to a society to a machine or organism
[Leibniz]
|
12746
|
We find unity in reason, and unity in perception, but these are not true unity
[Leibniz]
|
12745
|
Philosophy needs the precision of the unity given by substances
[Leibniz]
|
5033
|
Nothing should be taken as certain without foundations
[Leibniz]
|
12923
|
Every bodily substance must have a soul, or something analogous to a soul
[Leibniz]
|
12922
|
A thing 'expresses' another if they have a constant and fixed relationship
[Leibniz]
|
5034
|
Mind is a thinking substance which can know God and eternal truths
[Leibniz]
|
12924
|
Motion alone is relative, but force is real, and establishes its subject
[Leibniz]
|
13079
|
A substance contains the laws of its operations, and its actions come from its own depth
[Leibniz]
|
12925
|
Beauty increases with familiarity
[Leibniz]
|
12926
|
Wisdom is the science of happiness
[Leibniz]
|
12927
|
Happiness is advancement towards perfection
[Leibniz]
|
12706
|
Bodies need a soul (or something like it) to avoid being mere phenomena
[Leibniz]
|
19413
|
If we know what is good or rational, our knowledge is extended, and our free will restricted
[Leibniz]
|
13173
|
Death is just the contraction of an animal
[Leibniz]
|
13172
|
What we cannot imagine may still exist
[Leibniz]
|
13174
|
A piece of flint contains something resembling perceptions and appetites
[Leibniz]
|
13175
|
Entelechies are analogous to souls, as other minds are analogous to our own minds
[Leibniz]
|
19407
|
We want good education and sociability, rather than lots of moral precepts
[Leibniz]
|
13198
|
Gravity is within matter because of its structure, and it can be explained.
[Leibniz]
|
13197
|
The notion of substance is one of the keys to true philosophy
[Leibniz]
|
13189
|
A necessary feature (such as air for humans) is not therefore part of the essence
[Leibniz]
|
19432
|
Intelligible truth is independent of any external things or experiences
[Leibniz]
|
19430
|
We know objects by perceptions, but their qualities don't reveal what it is we are perceiving
[Leibniz]
|
19431
|
There is nothing in the understanding but experiences, plus the understanding itself, and the understander
[Leibniz]
|
23026
|
We know mathematical axioms, such as subtracting equals from equals leaves equals, by a natural light
[Leibniz]
|
22894
|
If time were absolute that would make God's existence dependent on it
[Leibniz, by Bardon]
|
2099
|
The existence of God, and all metaphysics, follows from the Principle of Sufficient Reason
[Leibniz]
|
2098
|
The principle of sufficient reason is needed if we are to proceed from maths to physics
[Leibniz]
|
3646
|
There is always a reason why things are thus rather than otherwise
[Leibniz]
|
2100
|
Space and time are purely relative
[Leibniz]
|
2101
|
If everything in the universe happened a year earlier, there would be no discernible difference
[Leibniz]
|
2102
|
Atomism is irrational because it suggests that two atoms can be indistinguishable
[Leibniz]
|
2103
|
The idea that the universe could be moved forward with no other change is just a fantasy
[Leibniz]
|
2104
|
No reason could limit the quantity of matter, so there is no limit
[Leibniz]
|
2105
|
Things are infinitely subdivisible and contain new worlds, which atoms would make impossible
[Leibniz]
|
2106
|
The only simple things are monads, with no parts or extension
[Leibniz]
|
2107
|
No time exists except instants, and instants are not even a part of time, so time does not exist
[Leibniz]
|
20965
|
Leibniz upheld conservations of momentum and energy
[Leibniz, by Papineau]
|
21346
|
The ratio between two lines can't be a feature of one, and cannot be in both
[Leibniz]
|
19385
|
All simply substances are in harmony, because they all represent the one universe
[Leibniz]
|
19433
|
The universe is infinitely varied, so the Buridan's Ass dilemma could never happen
[Leibniz]
|
19434
|
There may be a world where dogs smell their game at a thousand leagues
[Leibniz]
|
13096
|
The force behind motion is like a soul, with its own laws of continual change
[Leibniz]
|
13177
|
An entelechy is a law of the series of its event within some entity
[Leibniz]
|
19409
|
Soul represents body, but soul remains unchanged, while body continuously changes
[Leibniz]
|
19410
|
Scientific truths are supported by mutual agreement, as well as agreement with the phenomena
[Leibniz]
|
11873
|
Our notions may be formed from concepts, but concepts are formed from things
[Leibniz]
|
13180
|
Space is the order of coexisting possibles
[Leibniz]
|
13181
|
Time is the order of inconsistent possibilities
[Leibniz]
|
13178
|
Things in different locations are different because they 'express' those locations
[Leibniz]
|
19411
|
In nature there aren't even two identical straight lines, so no two bodies are alike
[Leibniz]
|
19412
|
If two bodies only seem to differ in their position, those different environments will matter
[Leibniz]
|
12747
|
Monads are not extended, but have a kind of situation in extension
[Leibniz]
|
13179
|
A complete monad is a substance with primitive active and passive power
[Leibniz]
|
19379
|
The law of the series, which determines future states of a substance, is what individuates it
[Leibniz]
|
13093
|
The only permanence in things, constituting their substance, is a law of continuity
[Leibniz]
|
13185
|
Even if extension is impenetrable, this still offers no explanation for motion and its laws
[Leibniz]
|
13186
|
Universals are just abstractions by concealing some of the circumstances
[Leibniz]
|
13183
|
Primitive forces are internal strivings of substances, acting according to their internal laws
[Leibniz]
|
13184
|
The division of nature into matter makes distinct appearances, and that presupposes substances
[Leibniz]
|
12748
|
Only monads are substances, and bodies are collections of them
[Leibniz]
|
12752
|
Only unities have any reality
[Leibniz]
|
13182
|
Changeable accidents are modifications of unchanging essences
[Leibniz]
|
12749
|
Derivate forces are in phenomena, but primitive forces are in the internal strivings of substances
[Leibniz]
|
13188
|
The only indications of reality are agreement among phenomena, and their agreement with necessities
[Leibniz]
|
13187
|
In actual things nothing is indefinite
[Leibniz]
|
12722
|
Thought terminates in force, rather than extension
[Leibniz]
|
19383
|
A man's distant wife dying is a real change in him
[Leibniz]
|
12774
|
Without a substantial chain to link monads, they would just be coordinated dreams
[Leibniz]
|
12775
|
Things seem to be unified if we see duration, position, interaction and connection
[Leibniz]
|
12776
|
Every substance is alive
[Leibniz]
|
12777
|
Monads do not make a unity unless a substantial chain is added to them
[Leibniz]
|
12753
|
A substantial bond of powers is needed to unite composites, in addition to monads
[Leibniz]
|
12781
|
A composite substance is a mere aggregate if its essence is just its parts
[Leibniz]
|
12785
|
Truth is mutually agreed perception
[Leibniz]
|
12779
|
There is a reason why not every possible thing exists
[Leibniz]
|
12782
|
Monads control nothing outside of themselves
[Leibniz]
|
12778
|
There is active and passive power in the substantial chain and in the essence of a composite
[Leibniz]
|
12783
|
Primitive force is what gives a composite its reality
[Leibniz]
|
12780
|
We can grasp the wisdom of God a priori
[Leibniz]
|
12784
|
Allow no more miracles than are necessary
[Leibniz]
|
12708
|
The soul is not a substance but a substantial form, the first active faculty
[Leibniz]
|
2117
|
The connection in events enables us to successfully predict the future, so there must be a constant cause
[Leibniz]
|
13095
|
Essence is primitive force, or a law of change
[Leibniz]
|
13097
|
Force in substance makes state follow state, and ensures the very existence of substance
[Leibniz]
|
12723
|
The most primitive thing in substances is force, which leads to their actions and dispositions
[Leibniz]
|
13190
|
I don't admit infinite numbers, and consider infinitesimals to be useful fictions
[Leibniz]
|
12720
|
Time doesn't exist, since its parts don't coexist
[Leibniz]
|
12719
|
Clearly, force is that from which action follows, when unimpeded
[Leibniz]
|
19415
|
Passions reside in confused perceptions
[Leibniz]
|
19438
|
Our large perceptions and appetites are made up tiny unconscious fragments
[Leibniz]
|
19439
|
God produces possibilities, and thus ideas
[Leibniz]
|
12732
|
Some necessary truths are brute, and others derive from final causes
[Leibniz]
|
19348
|
All that is real in motion is the force or power which produces change
[Leibniz]
|
11945
|
In addition to laws, God must also create appropriate natures for things
[Leibniz]
|
13432
|
The essence of a circle is the equality of its radii
[Leibniz]
|
12696
|
Bodies are recreated in motion, and don't exist in intervening instants
[Leibniz]
|
19414
|
Men are related to animals, which are related to plants, then to fossils, and then to the apparently inert
[Leibniz]
|
19436
|
Bare or primary matter is passive; it is clothed or secondary matter which contains action
[Leibniz]
|
13191
|
The properties of a thing flow from its essence
[Leibniz]
|
19370
|
'Blind thought' is reasoning without recognition of the ingredients of the reasoning
[Leibniz, by Arthur,R]
|
19390
|
Everything is subsumed under number, which is a metaphysical statics of the universe, revealing powers
[Leibniz]
|
19391
|
We can assign a characteristic number to every single object
[Leibniz]
|
19393
|
What is not active is nothing
[Leibniz]
|
2118
|
All other human gifts can harm us, but not correct reasoning
[Leibniz]
|
19423
|
By an 'idea' I mean not an actual thought, but the resources we can draw on to think
[Leibniz]
|
7564
|
Occasionalism give a false view of natural laws, miracles, and substances
[Leibniz, by Jolley]
|
5510
|
Leibniz has a panpsychist view that physical points are spiritual
[Leibniz, by Martin/Barresi]
|
13467
|
Leibniz was the first modern to focus on sentence-sized units (where empiricists preferred word-size)
[Leibniz, by Hart,WD]
|
19365
|
Limited awareness leads to bad choices, and unconscious awareness makes us choose the bad
[Leibniz, by Perkins]
|
8110
|
Leibniz identified beauty with intellectual perfection
[Leibniz, by Gardner]
|
7569
|
Humans are moral, and capable of reward and punishment, because of memory and self-consciousness
[Leibniz, by Jolley]
|
19354
|
Leibniz introduced the idea of degrees of consciousness, essential for his monads
[Leibniz, by Perkins]
|
7841
|
We think we are free because the causes of the will are unknown; determinism is a false problem
[Leibniz]
|
16683
|
Leibniz eventually said resistance, rather than extension, was the essence of body
[Leibniz, by Pasnau]
|
7560
|
Leibniz struggled to reconcile bodies with a reality of purely soul-like entities
[Jolley on Leibniz]
|
12728
|
Leibniz rejected atoms, because they must be elastic, and hence have parts
[Leibniz, by Garber]
|
7574
|
Natural law theory is found in Aquinas, in Leibniz, and at the Nuremberg trials
[Leibniz, by Jolley]
|
7859
|
Leibniz had an unusual commitment to the causal completeness of physics
[Leibniz, by Papineau]
|
12725
|
Leibniz wanted to explain motion and its laws by the nature of body
[Leibniz, by Garber]
|
3889
|
God's existence is either necessary or impossible
[Leibniz, by Scruton]
|
7842
|
Leibniz was closer than Spinoza to atheism
[Leibniz, by Stewart,M]
|
3347
|
Leibniz said the principle of sufficient reason is synthetic a priori, since its denial is not illogical
[Leibniz, by Benardete,JA]
|
3346
|
For Leibniz rationality is based on non-contradiction and the principle of sufficient reason
[Leibniz, by Benardete,JA]
|
19359
|
Leibniz aims to give coherent rational support for empiricism
[Leibniz, by Perkins]
|
13086
|
Metaphysics is a science of the intelligible nature of being
[Leibniz, by Cover/O'Leary-Hawthorne]
|
16897
|
Reason is the faculty for grasping apriori necessary truths
[Leibniz, by Burge]
|
16710
|
Leibniz tried to combine mechanistic physics with scholastic metaphysics
[Leibniz, by Pasnau]
|
9147
|
Number cannot be defined as addition of ones, since that needs the number; it is a single act of abstraction
[Fine,K on Leibniz]
|
8627
|
Leibniz is inclined to regard all truths as provable
[Leibniz, by Frege]
|
18080
|
A tangent is a line connecting two points on a curve that are infinitely close together
[Leibniz]
|
18081
|
Nature uses the infinite everywhere
[Leibniz]
|
7561
|
Substances are essentially active
[Leibniz, by Jolley]
|
10419
|
If relations can be reduced to, or supervene on, monadic properties of relata, they are not real
[Leibniz, by Swoyer]
|
7565
|
Leibniz proposes monads, since there must be basic things, which are immaterial in order to have unity
[Leibniz, by Jolley]
|
12713
|
Forms have sensation and appetite, the latter being the ability to act on other bodies
[Leibniz, by Garber]
|
13087
|
The essence of a thing is its real possibilities
[Leibniz, by Cover/O'Leary-Hawthorne]
|
12701
|
Leibniz moved from individuation by whole entity to individuation by substantial form
[Leibniz, by Garber]
|
13105
|
The laws-of-the-series plays a haecceitist role
[Leibniz, by Cover/O'Leary-Hawthorne]
|
11862
|
Leibniz was not an essentialist
[Leibniz, by Wiggins]
|
16504
|
Two eggs can't be identical, because the same truths can't apply to both of them
[Leibniz]
|
11878
|
Leibniz's view (that all properties are essential) is extreme essentialism, not its denial
[Leibniz, by Mackie,P]
|
12035
|
Leibniz bases pure primitive entities on conjunctions of qualitative properties
[Leibniz, by Adams,RM]
|
13091
|
Leibnizian substances add concept, law, force, form and soul
[Leibniz, by Cover/O'Leary-Hawthorne]
|
12715
|
Leibniz strengthened hylomorphism by connecting it to force in physics
[Leibniz, by Garber]
|
4307
|
A reason must be given why contingent beings should exist rather than not exist
[Leibniz]
|
8650
|
Things are the same if one can be substituted for the other without loss of truth
[Leibniz]
|
13828
|
Necessary truths are those provable from identities by pure logic in finite steps
[Leibniz, by Hacking]
|
13080
|
Leibniz has a counterpart view of de re counterfactuals
[Leibniz, by Cover/O'Leary-Hawthorne]
|
15883
|
Leibniz narrows down God's options to one, by non-contradiction, sufficient reason, indiscernibles, compossibility
[Leibniz, by Harré]
|
18822
|
Each monad expresses all its compatible monads; a possible world is the resulting equivalence class
[Leibniz, by Rumfitt]
|
7837
|
Leibniz proposed possible worlds, because they might be evil, where God would not create evil things
[Leibniz, by Stewart,M]
|
19332
|
For Leibniz, divine understanding grasps every conceivable possibility
[Leibniz, by Perkins]
|
5509
|
Leibniz said dualism of mind and body is illusion, and there is only mind
[Leibniz, by Martin/Barresi]
|
7568
|
Leibniz is an idealist insofar as the basic components of his universe are all mental
[Leibniz, by Jolley]
|
19372
|
Concepts are ordered, and show eternal possibilities, deriving from God
[Leibniz, by Arthur,R]
|
15307
|
Leibniz uses 'force' to mean both activity and potential
[Leibniz]
|
13092
|
The essence of substance is the law of its changes, as in the series of numbers
[Leibniz]
|
19374
|
Microscopes and the continuum suggest that matter is endlessly divisible
[Leibniz]
|
19375
|
The continuum is not divided like sand, but folded like paper
[Leibniz, by Arthur,R]
|
16507
|
The law within something fixes its persistence, and accords with general laws of nature
[Leibniz]
|
16513
|
Identity of a substance is the law of its persistence
[Leibniz]
|
13078
|
Relations aren't in any monad, so they are distributed, so they are not real
[Leibniz]
|
13084
|
How can things be incompatible, if all positive terms seem to be compatible?
[Leibniz]
|