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Full Idea
Minds are substances which think, and are capable of knowing God and of discovering eternal truths.
Gist of Idea
Mind is a thinking substance which can know God and eternal truths
Source
Gottfried Leibniz (Letters to Antoine Arnauld [1686], 1687.10.09)
Book Ref
Leibniz,Gottfried: 'Philosophical Writings', ed/tr. Parkinson,G.H.R. [Dent 1973], p.73
A Reaction
'God' is there because the ability to grasp the ontological argument is seen as basic. Note a firm commitment to substance-dualism, and a rationalist commitment to the spotting of necessary truths as basic. He is not totally wrong.
16198 | Knowledge is the essence of the mind [Spinoza] |
5034 | Mind is a thinking substance which can know God and eternal truths [Leibniz] |
23184 | The mind is a simplifying apparatus [Nietzsche] |
7131 | The intellect and senses are a simplifying apparatus [Nietzsche] |
22652 | The mind has evolved entirely for practical interests, seen in our reflex actions [James] |
21949 | Having thoughts and feelings need engagement in the world [Heidegger, by Wrathall] |
3995 | A mind is an organ of representation [Lewis] |
2503 | Empirical approaches see mind connections as mirrors/maps of reality [Fodor] |
2508 | The function of a mind is obvious [Fodor] |