Ideas from 'Letters to Coste' by Gottfried Leibniz [1707], by Theme Structure
[found in 'Philosophical Essays' by Leibniz,Gottfried (ed/tr Arlew,R /Garber,D) [Hackett 1989,0-87220-062-0]].
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2. Reason / A. Nature of Reason / 9. Limits of Reason
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The universe is infinitely varied, so the Buridan's Ass dilemma could never happen
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Full Idea:
The Buridan's Ass case of perfect equilibrium is chimerical. ...The universe has no centre and its parts are infinitely varied; thus it will never happen that all will be perfectly equal and will strike equally from one side or the other.
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From:
Gottfried Leibniz (Letters to Coste [1707], 1707)
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A reaction:
Can the great Leibniz have missed the point? Surely all that matters is that the ass cannot distinguish the two options - not that they actually are identical in every detail? If the ass is short-sighted, that should be easy to set up.
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10. Modality / E. Possible worlds / 1. Possible Worlds / a. Possible worlds
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There may be a world where dogs smell their game at a thousand leagues
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Full Idea:
There will perhaps be a world in which dogs will have sufficiently good noses to scent their game at a thousand leagues.
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From:
Gottfried Leibniz (Letters to Coste [1707], 1707)
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A reaction:
Wonderful. This should immediately replace Lewis's much repeated example of a world containing a talking donkey. We should always honour the first person to suggest an idea. That is one of the motivations for this collection of ideas.
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