more from this thinker | more from this text
Full Idea
Our great perceptions and our great appetites of which we are conscious, are composed of innumerable little perceptions and little inclinations of which we cannot be conscious.
Gist of Idea
Our large perceptions and appetites are made up tiny unconscious fragments
Source
Gottfried Leibniz (Letters to Remond de Montmort [1715], 1715 §2)
Book Ref
Leibniz,Gottfried: 'Leibniz Selections', ed/tr. Wiener,Philip P. [Scribners 1951], p.554
A Reaction
I think this is a wonderfully accurate report of how the mind is, in comparison with the much more simplistic views presented by most philosophers of that era. And so much understanding flows from Leibniz's account.
| 19438 | Our large perceptions and appetites are made up tiny unconscious fragments [Leibniz] |
| 21770 | Consciousness is both of objects, and of itself [Hegel] |
| 2525 | Maybe language is crucial to consciousness [Dennett] |
| 5001 | Maybe we should see intentionality and consciousness as a single problem, not two [Kirk,R] |
| 4917 | Consciousness involves awareness, perception, self-awareness, attention and reflection [Carter,R] |
| 6626 | 'Phenomenal' consciousness is of qualities; 'apperceptive' consciousness includes beliefs and desires [Lowe] |
| 4923 | The three essentials of conscious experience are privateness, unity and informativeness [Edelman/Tononi] |