On it rests the central thesis of his theodicy that the actual world is the. Leibniz, new essays on human understanding 17031765 rb, selections tba 1125 no class 122 kant on the verge of the transcendental philosophy readings. Leibnizs second argument provides a reason to think that it is. Leibnizs principle of identity of indiscernibles oxford. The failure of leibnizs infinite analysis view of contingency joel velasco stanford university abstract. What leibniz needs and what the argument from the theory of truth seems not to provide is a reason for thinking that qualitative similarity is a sufficient basis for concluding that a is identical to b. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. There is also the related principle of the indiscernibility of identicals. Primary truths for leibniz, all synthetic and contingent truths must represent necessary, analytic truths, imperfectly comprehended by finite minds. The monadology 1714, by gottfried wilhelm leibniz 16461716. I dont believe that diagnosis, and i dont think there are many commentators on leibniz who would agree with russell today.
And there is no purely extrinsic denomination, which implies that every relational truth re. But it is an application of a necessary truth that is innate, viz. Properties and predications university of rochester. The identity of indiscernibles was a central principle in leibnizs philosophy. Inspired by the achievements of the new science, yet haunted by the specter of skepticism raised.
For him all truths are reduced, through definitions of terms. The work of leibniz is huge and rich with insights of genius. Firstly, he divides truths into two types, truths of reason and truths of fact. In particular, we will look at david lewiss in uential understanding of the problems to be addressed, and the very di erent approaches of david armstrong, john heil, and peter van. In his 1686 paper primary truths, after describing his containment approach to. Therefore, it seems that leibniz needs to accept that every truth is necessary. Lets turn to the argument for the pii in primary truths 1689 where leibniz can be seen as addressing precisely this need. In this paper, it is argued that leibnizs view that necessity is grounded in the availability of a demonstration is incorrect and furthermore, can be shown to be so by using leibnizs own examples of infinite analyses. In the field of knowledge and in the field of mind and nature, leibniz opened new horizons to the history of philosophy.
This book is a study of leibnizs principle of identity of indiscernibles, the principle that rules out numerically distinct but perfectly similar things. Leibniz follows descartes, refining the rationalist view of mathematical knowledge. A contemporary of isaac newton, he and the natural philosopher feuded over who invented calculus. Leibnizs theories of contingency by robert merrihew adams introduction there is a familiar conception of leibnizs views about the nature of necessity and contingency which portrays him as a sort of grandfather of possible worlds semantics for modai logic. Leibniz believed that this principle could be derived from his definition of truth.
But it seems that every analytic truth is a necessary truth. We will then turn to the core problems of properties and predication as they are conceived in contemporary metaphysics. The principle of contradiction generates the truths of reason, each of which states the connection between an individual substance and one of its finite number of essential features. Leibniz had available in primary truths a positive reason, or direct argument, for pii. Leibnizs notes on arnaulds letter about article, vi. The world is full of life, with which we are connected by a small crowd of perception. The book discusses leibnizs arguments for the identity of indiscernibles in the meditation on the principle of the individual, the discourse on metaphysics, notationes generales, primary truths, the letter to casati of 1689, the correspondence with clarke, as well as the use of the identity of indiscernibles in leibnizs arguments against. Kant, the only possible argument 17623 ktp5570 1028 antileibnizianism and the sciences readings. Leibniz s response to lockes fifth definition of innate knowledge also draws on the distinction between necessary and contingent truth p.
In addition to the abbreviation for that primary work, other prominent texts on leibnizs. The former are necessary and their opposite is impossible, while the truths of fact are contingent and their opposite is possible. Also any secondary source articles by these guys is top notch. Observations upon experimental philosophy the philosophical. It is also argued that it commits leibniz to the strong necessity of the identity of indiscernibles.
Recommended commentary donald rutherford, leibniz as idealist. Kant, concerning the ultimate grounds of the differentiation of directions in space 1768 ktp5570. He studied many subjects and wrote many essays on them, including philosophy, mathematics, science, logic, theology, and language. According to leibniz, the primary truths of his metaphysical system are. The most widely accepted and sharpest notion of god that we have can be expressed like this. But, leibniz states that this being contained is implicitly or virtually the case with other truths see primary truths and the nature of truth. A leibnizian theory of concepts stanford university.
In a more popular view, leibniz s place in the history of the philosophy of mind is best secured by his preestablished harmony, that is, roughly, by the thesis that there is no mindbody interaction strictly speaking, but only a noncausal relationship of harmony, parallelism, or correspondence between mind and body. According to leibniz, a conception of truth has important. Relational truths are based on incidents of a representational nature that take the. This chapter is a discussion of leibniz s argument for the identity of indiscernibles in primary truths, where leibniz derives the identity of indiscernibles from the principle of sufficient reason. Leibniz was a german philosopher, mathematician, theologian, and. Kant, a new elucidation on the first principles of metaphysical cognition 1755 ktp5570 kant, physical monadology 1756 ktp5570 1021 kant and the existence of god readings. This chapter is a discussion of leibnizs argument for the identity of indiscernibles in primary truths, where leibniz derives the identity of indiscernibles from the. It is an argument based on what leibniz says at the beginning of his article.
The primary foundation of all truths of reason is then stated to. For primary source material, get the ariew and garber translation of leibnizs philosophical essays you can probably find a free pdf pretty easily if you look in the right places. Leibnizs theories of contingency by robert merrihew. Leibniz on the expression of god university of michigan. This chapter is a discussion of leibnizs argument for the identity of indiscernibles in primary truths, where leibniz derives the identity of indiscernibles from the principle of sufficient reason.
As leibniz explains in primary truths, a truth is derivative when it does not assert the same thing of itself or deny the opposite of its opposite ag 30. Required reading letters to clark ag 320346 recommended reading. Leibnizs philosophy of mind stanford encyclopedia of. Leibniz is an object lesson in what happens if you fail to give a correct analysis of relational propositions. Originally written in french, which was not leibniz s native tongue and which he handled rather poorly, it has been translated by robert latta in 1898, george montgomery in 1902, george macdonald ross in 1999, paul and anne martin schrecker in 1965 and mary. For leibniz, the foundations, or primary truths, are identities. Primary truths from the a priori nature of truth in general, certain axioms follow, e. Intuitively, this proposition is true only if it refers to a real world in which peter is, in fact, ill.
Truth of reason is necessary and truth of fact is contingent. Leibnizs alternative solution to the mindbody problem. Freedom and possibility, 1680 pdf, 63kb epub, 872kbmobi, 1,599kb. Zalta center for the study of language and information stanford university ifwehaditacharacteristica universalis,weshouldbeabletoreason in metaphysics and morals in much the same way as in geometry. For the rationalists, beliefs which depend on the senses are tenuous, while mathematical beliefs, unsullied by sensation, are elevated to pure truths. Originally written in french, which was not leibnizs native tongue and which he handled rather poorly, it has been translated by robert latta in 1898, george montgomery in 1902, george macdonald ross in 1999, paul and anne martin. God always acts with the mark of perfection or wisdom. Gottfried wilhelm leibniz stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. We can know them certainly, because they are the result of pure reason. He distinguishes between necessary and contingent truths and then argues that all necessary truths are innate.
Gottfried wilhelm leibniz 16461716 was one of the great thinkers of the. Related is the comment in the 1689 primary truths that all individual created substances are different expressions of the same universe and different expressions of the same universal cause, namely god a. In the meditations, it looks like his foundational truth is the cogito. Its not as if philosophers have devised the odd counterexample that a few epicycles could patch up. Leibniz did have a direct argument for pii in primary truths. Leibniz derived it from more basic principles and used it to establish important philosophical theses.
Discourse on metaphysics 1685 new essays on human understanding 1704 the monadology 1714 the work of leibniz is huge and rich with insights of genius. Gottfried wilhelm leibniz 16461716 was a true polymath. Though this does not explicitly say that the expression is present because of the causation, it does. When the analysis or resolution is finite, leibniz speaks of a demonstration demonstratio or reduction reductio of the truth to identities. All other truths reduce to primary truths by definitions. Leibniz s account of the world clearly presupposes that god exists. Pereyra, leibnizs argument for the identity of indiscernibles in his correspondence with clarke, australasian journal of philosophy, 77 1999 42938, especially 4303. Leibnizs account of the world clearly presupposes that god exists. Our topic today is an attempt by a later philosopher, gottfried leibniz, to improve on aquinas third way. Leibnizs theory of truth predicateinnotion makes every truth analytic i. It is argued that that argument is a petitio principii. According to leibniz, what is the difference between the two kinds of truths. Claims like white is not black arent innate, it is true.
Maria rosa antognazza oxford university press chapter 4 the actual world donald rutherford the contrast between the actual and the possible is one of the most important distinctions in leibnizs philosophy. Leibniz merely saw with greater clarity the consequences of failure to admit relational truths. Gottfried wilhelm leibniz stanford encyclopedia of. In the geometric presentation, it looks like his foundation is the existence and goodness of god. The original monadology is itself a condensed and abridged summary of ideas, reputedly prepared by leibniz for prince eugene of savoy. The origin of contingent truths gr p325 a vi 4, p1663 the reasons given for contingent truths must proceed to infinity. While leibniz published his first, it was newton who. The result, the wheat, would be the sum total of the most general truths about the worldthe definitive philosophy.
1052 1398 101 106 1011 1462 43 739 1235 295 77 1282 1630 579 1374 1633 1005 659 1245 1540 1108 583 800 1457 1051 1477 161 220 621 894 234 637 1335 1352