Leibniz is a unique scientist and mathematician, lawyer and philosopher. He was born and lived in Germany. He is now called one of the most prominent representatives of modern times in the field of philosophy. It is believed that Leibniz's philosophy has a direction of rationalism. It is based on two main problems: cognition and substance.
Descartes and Spinoza
Leibniz's philosophy includes many concepts. Before creating his "brainchild", Leibniz studied thoroughly the theory of Spinoza and Descartes. The German philosopher came to the conclusion that they are imperfect and completely rational. So the idea of creating your own Leibniz philosophy was born.
Leibniz refuted Descartes' theory of dualism, which was based on the separation of substances into higher and lower. The first implied independent substances, that is, God and those whom he created. The lower division implied material and spiritual creation.
Spinoza at one time combined all substances into one, thereby also proving the unfaithfulness of dualism. However, Leibniz's philosophy showed that the modes of a single substance of Spinoza are nothing more than the dualism of Descartes.
This is how Leibniz's philosophy came about, which can be briefly called this: the theory of the multiplicity of substances.
The simplicity and complexity of monads
Monad is simple and complex at the same time. Leibniz's philosophy not only does not explain the nature of these contradictions, but also strengthens it: simplicity is absolute, and complexity is infinite. In general, the monad is an entity, something spiritual. It must not be touched or touched. A vivid example is the human soul, which is simple, that is, indivisible, and complex, that is, rich and diverse.
The essence of the monad
The philosophy of G.V. Leibniz states that the monad is an independent substance, which is characterized by strength, movement and speed. However, each of these concepts cannot be characterized from the material side, which means that the monad itself is not a material entity.
Monad personality
Each monad is exclusively individual and original. Leibniz's philosophy briefly states that all objects have differences and differences. The basis of the theory of monads is the principle of the identity of indistinguishability.
Leibniz himself quite simply explained this position of his theory. Most often, he cited an ordinary tree with leaves as an example and asked the audience to find two identical leaves. Of course, there were none. This led to the logical conclusion about a qualitative approach to the world, the individuality of each of the objects, both material and psychological.
The philosophy of the new time was based, Leibniz was its bright representative, speaking about the meaning of the unconscious in our lives. Leibniz emphasized that we are controlled by infinitesimal phenomena that we perceive on an unconscious level. The logical principle of gradualness follows from this. It represents the law of continuity and states that transitions from one object or event to another proceed monotonously and continuously.
Closed monad
Leibniz's philosophy also included such a thing as isolation. The philosopher himself often emphasized that the monad is closed to itself, that is, there are no channels in it through which something can enter or exit it. In other words, there is no way to contact any monad. So is the human soul. She has no visible contacts except God.
Mirror of the universe
Leibniz's philosophy emphasized that the monad is simultaneously limited from everything and connected with everything. Duality is traced throughout the theory of monads.
Leibniz said that the monad fully reflects what is happening. In other words, small changes in general pull the smallest changes of the monad itself. Thus was born the idea of predefined harmony. That is, the monad is living, and its wealth is an infinitely simple unity.
