Philosophy of Leibniz

Study Notes

The universe consists of indivisible units called monads, which are like living atoms.
God created the arrangement of monads, making this the best of all possible worlds.
Monads are active and conscious, and they vary in the clarity and distinctiveness of their thoughts.

Leibniz believed that the mind is highly active, not passive as Locke suggested.
No ideas come from experience, according to Leibniz.
Nothing material can cause an idea that is nonmaterial.
There is a continuum between unconscious sensation and conscious perception.
Petites perceptions (little perceptions) occur below the level of awareness and accumulate to cause conscious awareness or apperception.
A certain aggregate of petites perceptions is required to reach the threshold (limen) of conscious awareness.

There is a hierarchy in nature, similar to Aristotle's scala naturae.
Monads differ in intelligence, ranging from inert matter to God, with humans possessing the monads capable of the clearest thinking.
Differences among all things in the universe are quantitative, not qualitative.

Monads seek to clarify their thoughts, which causes pleasure, and they are characterized by a final cause or purpose.
Monads can never be influenced by anything outside of themselves, and they can only change through internal development.
Each monad, and therefore all of nature, is characterized by a potential seeking to become actualized.

Leibniz rejected mind-body dualism, interactionism, and occasionalism.
He proposed a psychophysical parallelism based on the notion of preestablished harmony.
The law of continuity states that there are no major gaps or leaps in nature, with all differences characterized by small gradations.