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Single Idea 19334

[filed under theme 11. Knowledge Aims / B. Certain Knowledge / 5. Cogito Critique ]

Full Idea

It is not enough for understanding the nature of myself, that I feel myself to be a thinking substance, one would have to form a distinct idea of what distinguishes me from all other possible minds; but of that I have only a confused experience.

Gist of Idea

I can't just know myself to be a substance; I must distinguish myself from others, which is hard

Source

Gottfried Leibniz (Letters to Antoine Arnauld [1686], 1686.07.4/14)

Book Ref

Leibniz,Gottfried: 'The Leibniz-Arnauld Correspondence', ed/tr. Mason,HT/Parkinson,GHR [Manchester UP 1967], p.59

A Reaction

Not a criticism I have encountered before. Does he mean that I might be two minds, or might be a multitude of minds? It seems to be Hume's problem, that you are aware of experiences, but not of the substance that unites them.

The 42 ideas from 'Letters to Antoine Arnauld'

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]
12904 If varieties of myself can be conceived of as distinct from me, then they are not me [Leibniz]
12905 I cannot think my non-existence, nor exist without being myself [Leibniz]
12906 Truths about species are eternal or necessary, but individual truths concern what exists [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]
13077 Basic predicates give the complete concept, which then predicts all of the actions [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]
12908 Essences exist in the divine understanding [Leibniz]
12913 Nature is explained by mathematics and mechanism, but the laws rest on metaphysics [Leibniz]
12911 Concepts are what unite a proposition [Leibniz]
12912 Immortality without memory is useless [Leibniz]
12909 Everything, even miracles, belongs to order [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]
12745 Philosophy needs the precision of the unity given by substances [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]
12920 There is no multiplicity without true units [Leibniz]
12319 What is not truly one being is not truly a being either [Leibniz]
12704 Aggregates don’t reduce to points, or atoms, or illusion, so must reduce to substance [Leibniz]
5033 Nothing should be taken as certain without foundations [Leibniz]
5034 Mind is a thinking substance which can know God and eternal truths [Leibniz]
12922 A thing 'expresses' another if they have a constant and fixed relationship [Leibniz]
12923 Every bodily substance must have a soul, or something analogous to a soul [Leibniz]
13079 A substance contains the laws of its operations, and its actions come from its own depth [Leibniz]
12924 Motion alone is relative, but force is real, and establishes its subject [Leibniz]
12925 Beauty increases with familiarity [Leibniz]
12927 Happiness is advancement towards perfection [Leibniz]
12926 Wisdom is the science of happiness [Leibniz]
12706 Bodies need a soul (or something like it) to avoid being mere phenomena [Leibniz]