Gottfried Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (German pronunciation: [ˈɡɔtfʁiːt ˈvɪlhɛlm fɔn ˈlaɪpnɪts] (July 1, 1646 - June 21, 1716) was a German mathematician and philosopher. He wrote primarily in Latin and French's theory of pre-established harmony is a philosophical Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems concerning matters such as existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. It is distinguished from other ways of addressing fundamental questions by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational argument. The word "philosophy" comes from the theory about causation Causality is the relationship between an event and a second event (the effect), where the second event is a consequence of the first under which every "substance" only affects itself, but all the substances (both bodies and minds) in the world nevertheless seem to causally interact with each other because they have been programmed by God God is the English name given to the singular omnipotent being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism in advance to "harmonize" with each other. Leibniz's term for these substances was "monads" which he described in a popular work (Monadology The Monadology is one of Gottfried Leibniz’s best known works representing his later philosophy. It is a short text which sketches in some 90 paragraphs a metaphysics of simple substances, or monads §7) as "windowless".
An example:
- An apple falls on Alice's head, apparently causing the experience of pain in her mind. In fact, the apple does not cause the pain - the pain is caused by some previous state of Alice's mind. If Alice then seems to shake her hand in anger, it is not actually her mind that causes this, but some previous state of her hand.
Leibniz's theory is best known as a solution to the mind-body problem The mind-body dichotomy is the view that "mental" phenomena are, in some respects, "non-physical" . In a religious sense, it refers to the separation of body and soul (Paul, Letter to the Romans 7:25; 8:10). The mind-body dichotomy is the starting point of Dualism, and became conceptualized in the form known to the modern of how mind can interact with the body. However, Leibniz also rejected the idea of physical bodies affecting each other, and explained all physical causation in this way.
Under pre-established harmony, the preprogramming of each mind must be extremely complex, since only it itself causes its own thoughts or movements, for as long as it exists. In order to appear to interact, each substance's "program" must contain a description of either the entire universe, or of how the object is to behave at all times, during all "interactions" which will appear to occur.
It can also be noted that if a mind behaves as a windowless monad, there is no need for any other object to exist in order to create that mind's sense perceptions, leading to a solipsistic Solipsism is the philosophical idea that only one's own mind is sure to exist. Solipsism is an epistemological or ontological position that knowledge of anything outside one's own specific mind is unjustified. The external world and other minds cannot be known and might not exist. In the history of philosophy, solipsism has served as a skeptical universe consisting only of that mind. Leibniz seems to admit this in his Discourse on Metaphysics section 14. However, he claims that his Principle of Harmony, according to which God God is the English name given to the singular omnipotent being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism creates the best and most harmonious world possible, dictates that the perceptions In philosophy, psychology, and cognitive science, perception is the process of attaining awareness or understanding of sensory information. The word "perception" comes from the Latin words perceptio, percipio, and means "receiving, collecting, action of taking possession, apprehension with the mind or senses." (internal states) of each monad "expresses" the world in its entirety, and the world expressed by the monad actually exists. Although Leibniz says that each monad is "windowless," he also claims that it functions as a "mirror" of the entire created universe.
On occasion Leibniz styled himself as "the author of the system of preestablished harmony"[1]
References
- ^ Leibniz Philosophischen Schriften hrsg. C. Gerhardt, Bd VI 539, 546; and also the New Essays
See also
- Best of All Possible Worlds The phrase "the best of all possible worlds" was coined by the German philosopher Gottfried Leibniz in his 1710 work Essais de Théodicée sur la bonté de Dieu, la liberté de l'homme et l'origine du mal (Essays on Theodicy, concerning the Goodness of God, the Freedom of Man, and the Origin of Evil). It is the central argument in
- Noumenon The noumenon is a posited object or event that is independent of the senses. It classically refers to an object of human inquiry, understanding or cognition. As a concept it has much in common with objectivity
- Phenomenon A phenomenon , plural phenomena or phenomenons, is any observable occurrence. In popular usage, a phenomenon often refers to an extraordinary event. In scientific usage, a phenomenon is any event that is observable, however commonplace it might be, even if it requires the use of instrumentation to observe it. For example, in physics, a phenomenon
- Occasionalism Occasionalism is a philosophical theory about causation which says that created substances cannot be efficient causes of events. Instead, all events are taken to be caused directly by God Himself. . The theory states that the illusion of efficient causation between mundane events arises out of God's habitual causing of one event after another
External links
Categories: Philosophy of mind Categories: Philosophy by field | Cognitive science | Metaphysics | Gottfried Leibniz
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