Ideas from 'works' by Gottfried Leibniz [1690], by Theme Structure
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1. Philosophy / C. History of Philosophy / 4. Later European Philosophy / b. Seventeenth century philosophy
19359
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Leibniz aims to give coherent rational support for empiricism [Perkins]
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1. Philosophy / E. Nature of Metaphysics / 1. Nature of Metaphysics
13086
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Metaphysics is a science of the intelligible nature of being [Cover/O'Leary-Hawthorne]
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1. Philosophy / E. Nature of Metaphysics / 4. Metaphysics as Science
16710
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Leibniz tried to combine mechanistic physics with scholastic metaphysics [Pasnau]
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2. Reason / A. Nature of Reason / 1. On Reason
16897
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Reason is the faculty for grasping apriori necessary truths [Burge]
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2. Reason / A. Nature of Reason / 4. Aims of Reason
3346
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For Leibniz rationality is based on non-contradiction and the principle of sufficient reason [Benardete,JA]
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2. Reason / B. Laws of Thought / 2. Sufficient Reason
3347
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Leibniz said the principle of sufficient reason is synthetic a priori, since its denial is not illogical [Benardete,JA]
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2. Reason / E. Argument / 6. Conclusive Proof
8627
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Leibniz is inclined to regard all truths as provable [Frege]
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6. Mathematics / A. Nature of Mathematics / 4. Using Numbers / a. Units
9147
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Number cannot be defined as addition of ones, since that needs the number; it is a single act of abstraction [Fine,K]
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6. Mathematics / A. Nature of Mathematics / 5. The Infinite / j. Infinite divisibility
19375
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The continuum is not divided like sand, but folded like paper [Arthur,R]
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6. Mathematics / A. Nature of Mathematics / 5. The Infinite / k. Infinitesimals
18081
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Nature uses the infinite everywhere
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18080
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A tangent is a line connecting two points on a curve that are infinitely close together
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7. Existence / C. Structure of Existence / 6. Fundamentals / c. Monads
7565
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Leibniz proposes monads, since there must be basic things, which are immaterial in order to have unity [Jolley]
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8. Modes of Existence / A. Relations / 1. Nature of Relations
10419
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If relations can be reduced to, or supervene on, monadic properties of relata, they are not real [Swoyer]
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13078
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Relations aren't in any monad, so they are distributed, so they are not real
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8. Modes of Existence / C. Powers and Dispositions / 4. Powers as Essence
12713
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Forms have sensation and appetite, the latter being the ability to act on other bodies [Garber]
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13087
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The essence of a thing is its real possibilities [Cover/O'Leary-Hawthorne]
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9. Objects / A. Existence of Objects / 5. Individuation / a. Individuation
12701
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Leibniz moved from individuation by whole entity to individuation by substantial form [Garber]
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9. Objects / A. Existence of Objects / 5. Individuation / d. Individuation by haecceity
13105
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The laws-of-the-series plays a haecceitist role [Cover/O'Leary-Hawthorne]
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9. Objects / B. Unity of Objects / 1. Unifying an Object / a. Intrinsic unification
16513
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Identity of a substance is the law of its persistence
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9. Objects / B. Unity of Objects / 1. Unifying an Object / c. Unity as conceptual
12035
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Leibniz bases pure primitive entities on conjunctions of qualitative properties [Adams,RM]
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9. Objects / B. Unity of Objects / 2. Substance / d. Substance defined
13091
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Leibnizian substances add concept, law, force, form and soul [Cover/O'Leary-Hawthorne]
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7561
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Substances are essentially active [Jolley]
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9. Objects / C. Structure of Objects / 2. Hylomorphism / c. Form as causal
12715
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Leibniz strengthened hylomorphism by connecting it to force in physics [Garber]
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9. Objects / D. Essence of Objects / 9. Essence and Properties
11878
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Leibniz's view (that all properties are essential) is extreme essentialism, not its denial [Mackie,P]
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9. Objects / D. Essence of Objects / 15. Against Essentialism
11862
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Leibniz was not an essentialist [Wiggins]
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9. Objects / F. Identity among Objects / 7. Indiscernible Objects
16504
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Two eggs can't be identical, because the same truths can't apply to both of them
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9. Objects / F. Identity among Objects / 9. Sameness
8650
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Things are the same if one can be substituted for the other without loss of truth
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10. Modality / A. Necessity / 2. Nature of Necessity
13828
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Necessary truths are those provable from identities by pure logic in finite steps [Hacking]
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10. Modality / B. Possibility / 1. Possibility
13084
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How can things be incompatible, if all positive terms seem to be compatible?
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10. Modality / B. Possibility / 5. Contingency
4307
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A reason must be given why contingent beings should exist rather than not exist
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10. Modality / E. Possible worlds / 1. Possible Worlds / a. Possible worlds
15883
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Leibniz narrows down God's options to one, by non-contradiction, sufficient reason, indiscernibles, compossibility [Harré]
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18822
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Each monad expresses all its compatible monads; a possible world is the resulting equivalence class [Rumfitt]
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7837
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Leibniz proposed possible worlds, because they might be evil, where God would not create evil things [Stewart,M]
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10. Modality / E. Possible worlds / 3. Transworld Objects / c. Counterparts
13080
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Leibniz has a counterpart view of de re counterfactuals [Cover/O'Leary-Hawthorne]
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11. Knowledge Aims / A. Knowledge / 2. Understanding
19332
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For Leibniz, divine understanding grasps every conceivable possibility [Perkins]
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11. Knowledge Aims / C. Knowing Reality / 3. Idealism / a. Idealism
5509
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Leibniz said dualism of mind and body is illusion, and there is only mind [Martin/Barresi]
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7568
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Leibniz is an idealist insofar as the basic components of his universe are all mental [Jolley]
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14. Science / D. Explanation / 2. Types of Explanation / k. Explanations by essence
13092
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The essence of substance is the law of its changes, as in the series of numbers
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15. Nature of Minds / B. Features of Minds / 1. Consciousness / a. Consciousness
19354
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Leibniz introduced the idea of degrees of consciousness, essential for his monads [Perkins]
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16. Persons / F. Free Will / 6. Determinism / a. Determinism
7841
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We think we are free because the causes of the will are unknown; determinism is a false problem
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17. Mind and Body / A. Mind-Body Dualism / 3. Panpsychism
5510
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Leibniz has a panpsychist view that physical points are spiritual [Martin/Barresi]
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17. Mind and Body / A. Mind-Body Dualism / 4. Occasionalism
7564
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Occasionalism give a false view of natural laws, miracles, and substances [Jolley]
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18. Thought / D. Concepts / 2. Origin of Concepts / a. Origin of concepts
19372
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Concepts are ordered, and show eternal possibilities, deriving from God [Arthur,R]
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19. Language / A. Nature of Meaning / 7. Meaning Holism / a. Sentence meaning
13467
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Leibniz was the first modern to focus on sentence-sized units (where empiricists preferred word-size) [Hart,WD]
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20. Action / B. Preliminaries of Action / 2. Willed Action / d. Weakness of will
19365
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Limited awareness leads to bad choices, and unconscious awareness makes us choose the bad [Perkins]
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21. Aesthetics / A. Aesthetic Experience / 4. Beauty
8110
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Leibniz identified beauty with intellectual perfection [Gardner]
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22. Metaethics / A. Ethics Foundations / 1. Nature of Ethics / g. Moral responsibility
7569
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Humans are moral, and capable of reward and punishment, because of memory and self-consciousness [Jolley]
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25. Social Practice / D. Justice / 2. The Law / c. Natural law
7574
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Natural law theory is found in Aquinas, in Leibniz, and at the Nuremberg trials [Jolley]
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26. Natural Theory / A. Speculations on Nature / 6. Early Matter Theories / g. Atomism
12728
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Leibniz rejected atoms, because they must be elastic, and hence have parts [Garber]
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19374
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Microscopes and the continuum suggest that matter is endlessly divisible
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26. Natural Theory / A. Speculations on Nature / 7. Later Matter Theories / a. Early Modern matter
7560
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Leibniz struggled to reconcile bodies with a reality of purely soul-like entities [Jolley]
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26. Natural Theory / A. Speculations on Nature / 7. Later Matter Theories / c. Matter as extension
16683
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Leibniz eventually said resistance, rather than extension, was the essence of body [Pasnau]
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26. Natural Theory / D. Laws of Nature / 8. Scientific Essentialism / c. Essence and laws
12725
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Leibniz wanted to explain motion and its laws by the nature of body [Garber]
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16507
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The law within something fixes its persistence, and accords with general laws of nature
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26. Natural Theory / D. Laws of Nature / 10. Closure of Physics
7859
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Leibniz had an unusual commitment to the causal completeness of physics [Papineau]
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27. Natural Reality / A. Classical Physics / 1. Mechanics / c. Forces
15307
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Leibniz uses 'force' to mean both activity and potential
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28. God / B. Proving God / 2. Proofs of Reason / a. Ontological Proof
3889
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God's existence is either necessary or impossible [Scruton]
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28. God / C. Attitudes to God / 5. Atheism
7842
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Leibniz was closer than Spinoza to atheism [Stewart,M]
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