A History of Philosophy | 39 Leibinz's "Monads"
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A History of Philosophy | 39 Leibinz's "Monads"
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Leibniz develops a metaphysical system centered on monads as indivisible units of force to reconcile mechanistic science with Christian theology by grounding ultimate reality in windowless, divinely-sustained individual essences that mirror the whole through pre-established harmony rather than causal interaction.
- Monads are indestructible, indivisible units of force continuously sustained by divine fulguration, not eternal or self-existent
- Bodies (composites of monads) exhibit mechanistic cause-and-effect, but minds and monads themselves have no causal connections, only coordinate through pre-established harmony
- Each monad mirrors the whole through its individual essence and degree of apperception/appetition, reconciling individuality with hierarchical unity
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Much modern contemporary discussion of freedom and determinism is premised on the false notion that free will is one where there are no efficient causes determining the outcome—equating freedom with indeterminism.
“I I think he's right at least in this that um much modern contemporary discussion of freedom and determinism is premised on the notion that a free will is one where there are no efficient causes determining the outcome uh that is to say equating freedom with indeterminism he won't buy that I think he's right that if we're purposive beings if there is a thology running through human behavior and human existence then you got to get a teic conception of Freedom”
If humans are purposive beings with teleology running through human behavior and existence, then a teleological (telic) conception of freedom is required, not merely an efficient-causal one.
“I think he's right that if we're purposive beings if there is a thology running through human behavior and human existence then you got to get a teic conception of Freedom”
Each monad, by virtue of its individual nature and the attributes of apperception and appetition, mirrors the whole; each is like a microcosm reflecting the overall unity and order of the cosmos.
“each by virtue of its own Essence mirrors the whole each is as it work were a microcosm of the whole you see so if you understand your own individual nature in terms of these attributes of a perception and appetition you you have in that a glimpse of what the whole is like in terms of appetition and a perception”
Monads vary by infinitesimal degrees within a hierarchy of being where the Supreme monad (God) has perfect apperception and appetition, while lower monads possess lesser degrees of awareness and directed energy depending on their position in the hierarchy.
“these uh monads these units of force are analogous to each other in such a way as to compose this kind of hierarchy of being where the Supreme monad has perfect Apperception and appetition and most ads lower on the hierarchy have lesser degrees of a perception and appetition”
Apperception is self-consciousness and reflective awareness that allows beings to interrelate their own ideas and engage in active reasoning, distinguishing humans and higher beings from mere sense perception or unconscious awareness.
“the um term Apperception is obviously an adaptation from our term perception because he's willing to grant that some animals with soul monads may have sense perception and even things which have no conscious awareness at the bare monad level seem to know their place within the overall picture you'll see uh this is the intelligible order manifested in things having their place and function uh when you come to humans with Spirit monads they have not just sense consciousness but self-consciousness reflexive reflecting on their own Consciousness and therefore the capacity to interrelate their own ideas to reason actively reason”
Appetition is natural drive, desire, inclination, and disposition directed through final causation—the inner teleological striving that actualizes the potential of each monad's essence and nature.
“appetition desire yes directed energy in the sense that there is a natural function that is being exercised actualized in degree here is where the final causation becomes evident in the very nature of all monets with natural Drive appetite desire inclination disposition those terms which were associated with final causation in the Scholastics”
Bodies are composites of monads; when myriads of monads (millions according to Leibniz) are organized and unified, they begin to take on spatial extension and can exhibit cause-and-effect relationships characteristic of mechanistic science.
“bodies physical bodies material bodies are Composites of Monet and if it's a living thing then there is a a unifying Monet the soul Monet and notice that he's using soul in much the same sense as the Greeks where the soul is the source of life it's what gives life it's um related to form what gives a particular nature um it's related to um intelly the particular function of the thing so the um the body of an animal is Unified by a living Soul okay a living Soul which makes that hunk of matter a living animal which otherwise it wouldn't be with appropriate life functions involving degrees of appetition and a perception now um if we're talking of um bodies then there are cause effect relationships between bodies between these Composites because when you get myriads of monads and he says Millions when you get myriads of monads organized and unified they begin to take on spatial extension”
Monads themselves do not have spatial extension, size, shape, density, or other spatial occupancy characteristics (what are called primary qualities); only bodies (composites of monads) occupy space and have primary qualities.
“monads themselves don't have spatial extension to begin with they're not substantive in any solid sense they're infinitesimal they don't take up space so they don't have size shape density other spatial occupancy characteristics what we've learned to call primary qualities they don't have them but bodies which are Composites do occupy space they do have primary qualities”
Minds or spirits are capable of entering into a sort of society with God, making God a father to His children; this grounds the idea of the city of God—a universal monarchy, a moral world within the natural world.
“the spirits are capable therefore of entering into a sort of society with God so that he is a father to its children and so the idea of the city of God a universal uh monarchy a moral world within the natural world uh the most Divine of the works of God and so forth”
In Plato's philosophy, all the various pieces come together once you get the divided line straight with the distinction between forms and particulars, which functions as the hub of the wheel; from this you can work out along the spokes to discuss art, education, ethics, history, and so on.
“we um we've seen that all the way through from um I suppose Plato onwards that all of the various pieces of Plato's philosophy come together once you get that divided line straight with the distinction between forms in particulars uh you remember in the diagram we drew um that was the Hub of the wheel The Divided line from which along the spokes you can work out to talking about art and education and ethics and history and so on and so on and so forth same with people like liens”
Leibniz's principle of the identity of indiscernibles states: if two things are completely indiscernible one from the other—if they have no difference whatsoever—then they are not two things but one and the same thing.
“livets talks about the identity of indiscernibles if you have two things completely uh completely uh IND discernible one from the other then you don't have two things you have one and the same the identity of indiscernibles”
There is a principle of sufficient reason: there is a rational basis for everything that exists within the hierarchy and for every event that occurs; the system is an interwoven, choreographed whole.
“there is a principle of sufficient reason there is reason for everything that exists within the whole hierarchy and for every event that occurs within the whole hierarchy sufficient reason and and this is such an interwoven choreographed hole that um the principle of perfection this kind of being is good”
Leibniz's principle of pre-established harmony leads him to conclude that this is the best of all possible worlds.
“that's what leads him and we'll see this next time as we get into the problem of evil that's what leads him to say this is the best of all possible Worlds the best of all possible worlds”
Descartes recognized that souls cannot impart any force to bodies because there is always a conservation of the same quantity of force in matter, yet he believed the soul could change the direction of bodies through external causation.
“dayart recognizes that Souls cannot impart any Force to bodies because there's always the same quantity of force in matter yeah nevertheless he believed the soul could change the direction of bodies external cause only”
Everything that exists ultimately consists of monads, which are indivisible units of force or energy that are indestructible because they are not composites and therefore cannot be disintegrated or destroyed by any natural means.
“the underlying reality then is that everything that exists ultimately consists of monads which are indivisible units of force or energy um indestructible yes because not being Composites they cannot be disintegrated and destroyed by any natural means”
Despite infinitesimal differences between individuals, there is analogy and affinity between similar kinds of beings; by this analogy, humans can understand animals, and all created things can have some sense of understanding divine nature.
“individual is different from another like an identical twin in some infinitesimal way and because the differences are infinitesimal you see you um you have an immediate um understanding of those who are like you in certain ways now they further you reach out um admittedly there are not the immediate approximations but there is still some analogy uh so that in the hierarchy of being if um you were here oops I put you as a lowgrade spirit that um wasn't my intention uh but by virtue of being there you have some sense of affinity for um animals yeah you find yourself sympathizing with dogs especially your pet dog that you know you see and some people write papers and books about animal rights you see animal rights interesting how far the analogy will take us you see um and similarly by virtue of spirit beings humans have um some understanding of what God must be like”
Monads are not eternal in themselves—their existence is continuously given to them by God, not static creation but ongoing divine fulguration generating their force and existence moment by moment.
“that is not to say that they are Eternal always were and always will be in as much as their existence is being given to them by God”
Because monads are windowless and have no external stimuli affecting them, all knowing that occurs through apperception is innate—emerging from the monad's own inner resources rather than being generated by external causes.
“the knowing which Goes On by virtue of a perception is all innate innate ideas that come to our awareness to our Consciousness if you like I'll recollected because the monads are windowless there's no external stimuli affecting the mind um and not only is the knowing that goes on innate but the desires the appetition is U not something that is response to external stimuli but is simply the the expression of the the the inner potency the inner need the inner direction”
According to Leibniz, perceptions and sensations emerge from our mental activity and are correlated with external events through divine coordination, not through external causal stimulation of the senses as Descartes claimed.
“we have um um we have according to livets Concepts which are innate innate in the sense that they Bubble Up out of our intellect um perceptions but they too emerge out of our mental activity we have Sensations feelings but they too emerge out of the inner mental activity and amazingly they correlate with what's going on elsewhere that's the parallel you well where um dayart would say that you have a particular sensation because of some stimulus to the sense organs which is transmitted through the the brain and the animal fluids to uh produce um change of conscious State he has a cause effect theory of sense perception you see um but uh not so Li there are no cause effect processes producing Sensations or perceptions that is to say in terms of external causes the synchronization of the idea with what's going on that synchronization is God's doing”
The soul monad of a living thing unifies and organizes the body, acts as the life-giving principle, and provides direction and order; the soul does for a body what God does for the universe at a much smaller scale.
“the soul moned or in the case of humans the spirit moned is the unifying organizing Principle as well as the lifegiving thought giving direction giving principle for the whole otherwise you wouldn't have the ordered whole so it is as if the soul does for a body what God does for the universe apart from the order of things and he explicitly says that the things that God does in those regards we do in a much lesser degree at a much smaller level we make things much smaller than what God has made but we make unified individual organized things of a bodily sort”
Modern genetics significantly changes the picture of animalism and traducianism; biological vitalism was quite popular in some circles in the 1940s, particularly in France, but 50 years makes quite a difference—vitalism became a rarity by the mid 20th century.
“and obviously the development of modern genetics um changes the picture significantly uh biological vitalism is a rarity now in the 1940s it was quite popular in some circles particularly in France yeah 50 years makes quite a difference”
The windowless doctrine is only a causal one, so that sense perception, language, and other forms of interaction can occur by virtue of analogy rather than external causation.
“so the windowless idea is is simply a causal one and so as far as perception perception and language and all those things are concern you can you can interrelate because of analogy”
Leibniz identifies an emerging conflict in 17th-century thought between the mechanistic science being developed by philosophers like Hobbes and Spinoza and Christian religious doctrine, particularly regarding materialism and determinism.
“he saw conflicts emerging between the mechanistic science which was shaping the philosophy of the 17th century and the Christian religion uh both in terms of its materialistic Direction in people like Hobs and in terms of its determinism in people like Hobs and Spinoza”
Rational souls (human spirits) are spermatic animalcules that, as long as they remain at lower grades, have only ordinary or sensitive souls with low degree of perception; when elected ones attain by conception to human nature, their sensitive souls are elevated to the rank of reason and to the prerogative of spirits.
“there's this peculiarity in rational animals that they are spartic animalcules there's your bird as long as they remain such have only ordinary or sensitive souls okay that low degree of perception but as soon as those which are so to speak elected yeah he is Protestant calvinist those which are elected attain by actual conception to human nature God does The Selection uh their sensitive souls are elevated to the rank of reason and to the perogative of spirits”
Truths of fact are contingent statements about successive events; our awareness of them depends on these successive events of which we have inner awareness. Truths of reason are logically necessary statements with the logical form of laws of thought (a=a, a≠not-a).
“there are first of all truths of fact that we can know and there are truths of reason that we can know truths of fact are contingent that is to say they're about what happens successively and our awareness of them accordingly depends on these successive events of which we have this inner awareness so truths of fact are contingent whereas truths of Reason are logically necessary NE AR truths logically necessary truths that have the logical form of the laws of thought a equals a a equals non a”
Vitalism is the philosophical view that life is something distinct from simply physical and chemical processes, and it continued to flourish really until the mid-20th century.
“this is part of the philosophical view known as vitalism uh which views life as something distinct from Simply um physical chemical things okay and vitalism continued to flourish really until about the mid 20th century”
Animalism is the philosophical view that the offspring in miniature body and soul is contained in the father's seed and is passed down as an outgrowth of the father's soul monad, so souls are transmitted generationally.
“what he's um dealing with here and he names it later on is um the animalism of the day the uh view that The Offspring in miniature body and soul is contained in the father's seed complete so that in that sense the uh soul monad is a outgrow grow of the soul monad of the Father which was the outgrowth okay”
Leibniz's system is not atomistic in the sense that Democritus conceived atoms (little solid pellets of matter), and he rejects the term 'atom' for precisely that reason; however, if 'atomistic' means a more contemporary conception of atoms as composed of subatomic particles which themselves may be functions of energy, then a comparison to modern energetic physics might apply.
“is this somewhat like an atomistic idea or no you see if atom means a little pellet of matter no it's not atomistic um and he rejects the term atom for precisely that reason democratus atoms were little solid pellets a monad is not a little solid pellet yes now um if on the other hand you mean is this um atomistic like a more contemporary conception of atoms as composed of um subatomic part particles which particles may just be functions of energy you see uh all right yeah”
The concept of uniqueness or individuality in modern thought is often falsely taken to mean boundless value or absolute isolation, but for Leibniz uniqueness means only infinitesimal lack of close similarity from other individuals, not absolute isolation or value.
“there I think you're probably playing on a conception of thisness of individuality which suggests that every individual is absolutely unique now that modern conception simply is false now it's false for liit and I think it's false anyway uh you know we use we throw around the term unique so um so loosely um you know all snowflakes are unique they say well we imply that uniqueness means it has boundless value because it's Unique but you know not every snowflake has boundless value it's not uniqueness that gives things value”
Understanding the metaphysical scheme is foundational to understanding why philosophers think as they do about ethics, epistemology, God, and the problem of evil; metaphysical assumptions are the basis for all other philosophical positions.
“we've got to have this monadology straight now isn't that the case with all of these figures that if you want to know why they think as they do about aist ology about ethics about God about the problem of evil you have to get to the underlying metaphysical scheme the metaphysical assumptions are just foundational to the whole thing um in fact you can um pretty well take that as a rule of thumb for whatever subject you're discussing you see not just philosophical topics uh but but um if you're discussing what um Buchanan's candidacy for the presidency um yes and why his um particular kinds of America First values all right start asking yourself about what are the underlying metaphysical assumptions”
The distinction between truths of fact and truths of reason is not new—Aristotle could have said the same thing—but what is distinctive about Leibniz is that both kinds of truths are innate in as much as we are dealing with windowless monads.
“there's a distinction between truths of fact nothing new there uh nothing new about saying one is contingent the other is necessary and nothing new about saying one depends on the law of sufficient reason the other on the law of noncontradiction the Aristotle could have said the same what is distinctive is that both kinds of truths are innate in as much as we're dealing with windowless Monet”
If the animal never commences by natural means then neither does it end by natural means; there will be no birth, no utter destruction nor death strictly speaking—so that animals in the state of spermatic (miniature) form may be raised by conception to the grade of larger animals, but only a small number of chosen ones pass to a larger theater.
“um paragraph 75 um this comes out um again the animals some of which are raised by conception to the grade of larger animals may be called spermatic these among them which remain in their class that is the most part are born multiply and or destroyed like large animals it's only a small number of chosen ones that pass to a larger theater and so forth this is only half the truth I've therefore held that if the animal Never commences by natural means neither does it end by natural means that not only will there be no birth that would be no utter destruction nor death strictly speaking and so forth”
Organic bodies in nature are not products of chaos or spontaneous generation but always come from seeds containing preformed organic bodies and souls; souls predate conception and merely undergo transformation and development.
“philosophers have been have greatly puzzled over the origin of forms or Souls but today we know by examination of plants insects and animals that the organic bodies of nature are not products of chaos or putria paction spontaneous generation but always come from seeds in which seeds there was some preformation okay it's been thought that not only the organic body was there before conception but also the soul in this body in a word the living animal itself and that by means of conception this animal has merely been prepared for a great transformation to become an animal of Another Kind something similar is seen outside of birth as when worms caterpillars uh worms become flies and caterpillars become butterflies”
The question remains whether Leibniz's theological conception of freedom will successfully provide what is needed to defend human freedom against determinism.
“now the question is whether his theological conception of Freedom will do it”