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Single Idea 13186
[filed under theme 18. Thought / E. Abstraction / 3. Abstracta by Ignoring
]
Full Idea
In forming universals the soul only abstracts certain circumstances by concealing innumerable others. ..A spherical body complete in all respects is nowhere in nature; the soul forms such a notion by concealing aberrations.
Gist of Idea
Universals are just abstractions by concealing some of the circumstances
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.183
A Reaction
This is Leibniz's affirmation of traditional 'abstraction by ignoring', which everyone seems to have believed in before Frege, and which I personally think is simply correct, even though it is deeply unfashionable and I keep it to myself.
The
26 ideas
from 'Letters to Burcher De Volder'
13096
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The force behind motion is like a soul, with its own laws of continual change
[Leibniz]
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13177
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An entelechy is a law of the series of its event within some entity
[Leibniz]
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19410
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Scientific truths are supported by mutual agreement, as well as agreement with the phenomena
[Leibniz]
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19409
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Soul represents body, but soul remains unchanged, while body continuously changes
[Leibniz]
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11873
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Our notions may be formed from concepts, but concepts are formed from things
[Leibniz]
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13178
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Things in different locations are different because they 'express' those locations
[Leibniz]
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19411
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In nature there aren't even two identical straight lines, so no two bodies are alike
[Leibniz]
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19412
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If two bodies only seem to differ in their position, those different environments will matter
[Leibniz]
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12747
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Monads are not extended, but have a kind of situation in extension
[Leibniz]
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13179
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A complete monad is a substance with primitive active and passive power
[Leibniz]
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13180
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Space is the order of coexisting possibles
[Leibniz]
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13181
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Time is the order of inconsistent possibilities
[Leibniz]
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13093
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The only permanence in things, constituting their substance, is a law of continuity
[Leibniz]
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19379
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The law of the series, which determines future states of a substance, is what individuates it
[Leibniz]
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13186
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Universals are just abstractions by concealing some of the circumstances
[Leibniz]
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13185
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Even if extension is impenetrable, this still offers no explanation for motion and its laws
[Leibniz]
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13184
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The division of nature into matter makes distinct appearances, and that presupposes substances
[Leibniz]
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13183
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Primitive forces are internal strivings of substances, acting according to their internal laws
[Leibniz]
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12748
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Only monads are substances, and bodies are collections of them
[Leibniz]
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12752
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Only unities have any reality
[Leibniz]
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13182
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Changeable accidents are modifications of unchanging essences
[Leibniz]
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12749
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Derivate forces are in phenomena, but primitive forces are in the internal strivings of substances
[Leibniz]
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13188
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The only indications of reality are agreement among phenomena, and their agreement with necessities
[Leibniz]
|
13187
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In actual things nothing is indefinite
[Leibniz]
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12722
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Thought terminates in force, rather than extension
[Leibniz]
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19383
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A man's distant wife dying is a real change in him
[Leibniz]
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