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Full Idea
Each substance is like a whole world, and like a mirror of God, or indeed of the whole universe, which each one expresses in its own fashion.
Gist of Idea
Substances mirror God or the universe, each from its own viewpoint
Source
Gottfried Leibniz (Discourse on Metaphysics [1686]), quoted by Nicholas Jolley - Leibniz Intro
Book Ref
Jolley,Nicholas: 'Leibniz' [Routledge 2005], p.3
A Reaction
Leibniz isn't a pantheist, so he does not identify God with the universe, so it is a bit revealing that substance could reflect either one or the other, and he doesn't seem to care which. In the end, for all the sophistication, he just made it up.
| 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] |
| 13088 | Subjects include predicates, so full understanding of subjects reveals all the predicates [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] |
| 16761 | Forms are of no value in physics, but are indispensable in metaphysics [Leibniz] |
| 19342 | Reason avoids multiplying hypotheses or principles [Leibniz] |