LEIBNIZ

MONADOLOGY

A. LIFE

1. Interest in mediating disputes

Diplomat: tried to unite the nations of Europe

Theologian: tried to unify the churches

Philosophy: tried to connect Plato with Demarcates, Aristotle with Desecrates, the Scholastics with modern physicists, and theology with reason

Promoted cooperative activity in scientific and medical research

Got in a dispute with Newton over who invented the calculus

This was a strong blow to his ideal of scientific cooperation

2. Wrote in fragments (letters, brief treatises) two thirds of his writings are still unpublished

3. Newton controversy (with others such as Clarke)

Conflict with Newton over who invented the calculus

Criticism of Newton's conception of God (which is imperfect)

For Newton, God intervenes to keep the stars from collapsing, and to adjust planetary perturbations

For Leibniz, a perfect God shouldn't have to do this

Criticism of Newtonian gravity:

It would be a perpetual miracle if bodies were to move freely in aether about a fixed center

Follows from his general denial of action at a distance

Motion of planets results from swirls of aether (following Desecrates)

Criticism of a vacuum (which Newton held to):

The more matter there is in the universe, the better; hence God will have filled the whole universe with matter

Extension and matter are equivalent (from Desecrates)

Leibniz later rejected this view

Leibniz denied atoms (which Newton held to), and atoms implied vacuums

4. Theodicy

Written for Queen Sophie Charlotte of Prussia

Refutation of Bayle's skeptical views on religion, particularly the problem of evil

Argues that an all good God has created the best of all possible worlds

B. ABOUT MONADS (MONADOLOGY 1-24)

1. What monads are

True atoms, simple substance, without parts, indestructible, incorruptible, individual centers of force, endowed with the faculty perception and appetite

Comes into being only through creation, and ends through annihilation

Exists neither in space nor time

Do not have a causal effect on other monads (no windows)

2. The Identity of Indiscernibles and Changes within monads

Identity of Indiscernibles: if any two beings have exactly the same set of properties then they are indiscernible (i.e. indistinguishable)

Monads differ in terms of what they perceive

3. Doctrine of minute perception

Perception is possible without consciousness

Failure to acknowledge this has led Cartesians to conclude that animals have no souls, and that unconscious sleep is like death

4. Whether material things can perceive

Perception cannot be reduced to physical mechanisms

e.g. imagine that a brain was the size of a mill house. If we could explore the inside, we could not locate the actual perception

Fainting, dreamless sleep

B. HUMAN PERCEPTION (25-35)

1. Animal and human mental activity

Hightened perceptions from our sense organs

Memory:

A connectiveness which imitates reason

Memories associated with events

2. Higher human reasoning

a. Knowledge of eternal and necessary truths

Distinguishes us from animals

Knowledge of God

Knowledge of ourselves

Reflective acts

b. Two principles of reasoning

Principle of contradiction

Principle of sufficient reason: nothing exists unless there is a sufficient reason for its explanation

c. Two kinds of truth

Truth of reasoning (a priori)

Are necessary, the opposite is impossible

e.g. math

Truth of fact (a posteriori)

Are contingent, there opposite is possible

d. Simple ideas of which no definition can be given

Foundational tautologies

C. GOD (36-61)

1. Cosmological argument and the nature of God

a. Proof:

(1) The world contains an infinite sequence of contingent facts;

(2) An explanation is needed as to the origin of this whole infinite series (which goes beyond an explanation of each member in the series);

(3) The explanation of this whole series cannot reside in the series itself, since the very fact of its existence would still need an explanation (principle of sufficient reason)

(4) Therefore, there is a necessary substance which produced this infinite series (and which is the complete explanation of its own existence as well).

b. Criticized by Hume in Dialogues, Part 9

Humans get their perfection through the influence of God, and their imperfection from their own natures

2. Ontological argument

a. Proof:

(a) If it is possible that a necessary being exists, then a necessary being exists

(b) It is possible that a necessary being exists,

b. Premise (a): a necessary being is one which exists in every possible world

Suppose that there is a possible world W in which God exists necessarily. That means God would exist in every possible world which is relative to W, including our own actual world.

c. Premise (b):

Premise (b) would be false only if it is contradictory. But it is not contradictory to suppose that God possibly exists in every possible world.

d. Contingent and eternal truths

Contingent truths depend on God's will and the greater good

Necessary truths depend on God's understanding (and are the inner objects of God's understanding)

3. Creation

a. Creation of monads

God is the only uncreated monad (or original simple substance)

All other monads come into being and are sustained by him in an act he calls "fulguration"

Without God, monads can neither come into being or be destroyed (paralleling the modern view of the conservation of energy)

b. Attributes of monads

God has three principle attributes: power, knowledge, and will.

These three attributes are exhibited in more limited form within monads as subject, perception, and appetition (i.e. the desire to perceive new things)

Perception:

Monads cannot causally affect each other, although they are influenced by perceiving surrounding monads

Such perception between monads is mediated by God

c. Best of all possible worlds

God's nature directs him to create the best of all possible worlds

His choice of creating this universe was determined in the sense that all alternatives were inferior, and, thus, unacceptable

His wisdom tells him which his best, his goodness has him choose it, and his power has him create it

4. Every monad mirrors the universe

In this best of all possible worlds, God completely filled the universe with monads

All monads work together in carrying out God's perfect plan

No matter how disconnected the world might seem, there is an underlying master plan

All monads are interconnected by virtue of this plan, and each one contains within itself an incomplete copy of this master plan.

Bayle criticized this point, contending that it gives too much power to God

Another reason why every monad responds to what happens in the universe is because of the fact that all space is filled up

They communicate because they touch each other

D. BODY AND SOUL (62-81)

1. Physical bodies and the infinite divisibility of matter

2. Entelechy: primary active force in things

The entelechy of an inorganic monad is its physical nature

(e.g. monads which make up a stone)

Living things such as trees are composed of monads with a different entelechy, such an active nutritional force.

Animals are composed of monads with yet a different entelechy, such as an active appetitive force

We call this entelechy the soul of the animal.

As part of God's perfect plan, all of these objects are highly ordered both in themselves and in how we perceive them

3. Natural and artificial objects

Natural objects (created by God): each sub-part reflects the nature of the whole

Artificial objects (created by us): each sub-part does not reflect the nature of the whole

4. Infinite divisibility of matter

Like the ancient Greek philosopher Anaxagoras, Leibniz believed that matter was infinitely divisible.

For any given physical thing, one can divide it again and again, onto infinity.

Newtonian view: physical things are composed of indivisible, material particles which exist in a vacuum

As part of God's perfect universe, there are infinitely many, infinitely small monads which occupy all space.

There is no real chaos, only the appearance of it

5. Souls of animals

Souls of animals are its larger active forces which direct its sub-component parts

An animal's soul can retain its identity even though the material parts may slowly change over time

Thus, even birth and death are gradual processes of changing sub-components

Generation is development and growth, death is envelopment and diminution

Souls of animals are present before physical birth and are not destroyed with the disintegration of the physical body

6. Union of soul and body

Although the body and soul follow their own distinct laws in their own distinct realms, they operate in perfect synchronization since they are both part of God’s perfect master plan

Souls act according to the laws of final cause

Material bodies act according to the laws of efficient cause and motion

E. HUMAN SPIRIT (82-90)

1. Rational minds

In primitive form, the souls of humans also existed from creation

However, they are later elected to take on the rational nature of a soul

The rational nature of the human soul is what we call our "spirit"

This mirrors the image of God himself (insofar as we can know God's plan)

2. The city of God and suffering

Our rational abilities give us a social nature which enables us to have a relationship with God

The community of all rational beings with God constitutes a city of God, which is a moral world within a natural world

Just as there is a pre-ordered harmony between realms of the body and soul, there is a similar harmony between the natural world and moral world

Suffering:

The suffering that we see in the world is part of this total harmony and is nevertheless part of the best of all possible worlds which God could create

Since we cannot comprehend God's master plan, we should be content with how it is

Suffering is the result of sin

F. INTERPRETATIONS OF LEIBNIZ

1. Montgomery Furth, "Monadology"

a. Monads are like Desecrates res cogitans (human conscious being)

Unlike Desecrates, unconscious perceptions occur in the monads

Similar to Desecrates, the monad perceives its world, but only a tiny fraction of the universe

Similar to Desecrates (who argues that the experiences of the mind are its qualities) for Leibniz, monads differ from each other in terms of their perceptions

2. Other points about monads (from commentaries)

a. Essential feature of the monad: activity

Range in activity from completely active to the almost inert

Primary activity: perception and representation (mirroring)

All monads perceive other monads with some degree of clarity

b. Pre-established harmony with other monads

Proof: there is no causal interaction with other monads, yet they perceive each other

High and low grade monads mirror each other

Each monad unfolds in a purposive direction

Material substance: less active monads give the appearance of materiality