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PhilFinal

Terms

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Leibniz

Central principles:
law of sufficient reason;
Why everything is a certain way; not equal worlds but a best exists; to fill the world with the Most Reality/Being possible.
Leibniz
identity of indiscernibles
Two indiscernible things are one; monads must be distinct and change; monads have properties (monadology/principles of philosophy); no external causality affecting monads.
Distinguishing among Monads
**No two substances identical except in number/quantity.
Leibniz
Two truths: those of reasoning (analy) and those of fact (syn)
Principle of Contradiction (truths of reason) and Principle of Sufficient Reason (fact)
REASONING=Contradiction=ANALYTIC=A PRIORI=NECESSARY = REASON FROM GOD [RcAN)
FACT = SYNTHETIC = CONTINGENT = PRINCIPLE OF SUFFICIENT REASON=GOD
Analytic: Predicate is contained in the subject (a priori); denial a contradiction; all truths are analytic truths.
Synthetic distinction: Predicate is not contained in subject; denial is not a contradiction.
Leibniz
Monads and their characterization:
1)(The center of his metaphysics) Simple substance with no parts forming composites when integrated Proof for Substances and Monads:
2) If there are composites there must be substances and therefore there must be monads with no parts.
3) Each has its own nature
4) No extension/measurement; no form or shape.
5) Cannot be destroyed; set number.
6) Can be seen/perceived with exterior and interior (like body and mind with exterior a composite of other monads).
6) Space: The relation between monads (not Newton’s coordinate sys)
7) Ex. Mind; therefore can never be destroyed; the body is many monads.
Interior vs. Exterior: Interior is the perception of everything else; previous perception, Appetition; a particular purpose.
Leibniz
Substance:
Equals Monad; Infinite number and all unique.
Leibniz
Harmony, **Necessary Substance: Explains why things are a particular way; GOD; Teleology and Determinism of Nature not incompatible (int/ext of monads).
Leibniz
Cause and Effect?
No Real Cause and Effect: Like Spinoza’s explanation of cause between substances; cannot be influenced by other substances; independent.
Leibniz
apperception
: Self/conscious awareness. Unlike Cartesians, it is not necessary to be aware of perception (degrees, for example habitual actions). Higher/lower level monads perceive varying degrees of clarity.
Leibniz
Change
Change and Monads:
Supernatural change (God creating universe)
Natural changes can only happen by Degrees; something stays the same;
Locke

Innate ideas:
Tearing down foundations, no innate ideas (Starting point: our capacity for knowledge before searching for answers); No innate principles, not 1) Speculative/theoretical or 2) Practical (Action related; moral philosophy).
Locke vs. Descartes
Argument Against Descartes; Extension: Not innate/a priori and not the essence of bodies; among the primary qualities of bodies is Solidity which is not a priori either. Two bodies cannot occupy same space and time.
Locke
Bare-Naked Perception: Mind is Passive and receives information from outside.
Memory: Active; shared by animals.
Locke
Modes
Modes: Combination of one simple idea; depend on substances; ex. Dozen. (Mixed modes: Beauty) A simple mode is a complex idea all of whose component parts are variations or combinations of a single simple idea.
Locke
Definition and extent of knowledge:
The perception of the agreement or disagreement of ideas (vs. real existence in the world; abstract).
rules from Descartes’ Discourse
- rejection of everything he has been taught.
- "I think; therefore, I am"; "conceive very clearly and very distinctly⬝: assume nothing true except.
- Divide into parts beginning with simplest
- Make enumerations complete.
- perfection of God then enables Descartes
- the world is radically dualistic
- reasonable explanations for natural phenomena
- mathematical deductions
Descartes
Three innate/a priori ideas:
Mind, body, God: Foundation to Mathematics to Physics
Descartes
Levels of reality
modes of substances, finite (mind, body, wax), infinite
Spinoza
Definition of mind:
Essence of mind
The idea of the body; a Complex idea.
Essence involves existence – self caused; contingent (could not have been otherwise; necessary by essence). God is the essence of thinking substance (i.e. mind) and of extended substance (i.e. body).
Spinoza
Distinction between action and passion:
Active (ad. Ideas) Passive (inad. Ideas)
Passive affects, or passions. He identifies three as primary - joy, sadness, and desire
Spinoza
Distinction between human bondage and human freedom
Lack of power to control emotions; subject of fortune; Bondage to Passive Emotions (from external causes vs. Autonomy)
Illusion, no free will.
Spinoza
Kinds of knowledge:
2) Commonalities/Common Idea known through Reason
Mathematics.
3) Intuition; truth directly present in mind; adequate idea; Knowledge of God.
Teleology -
the science or doctrine that attempts to explain the universe in terms of ends or final causes; the supposition that there is design, purpose, directive principle, or finality in the works and processes of nature, and the philosophical study of that purpose.
Not important to Descartes but function.
Spinoza and Descartes
- dualism vs. monism
- humans finite and not modes vs. mostly finite and modes of the substance
- external world det. vs. everything det.; laws of nature.
- clear percep; ad. ideas
Spinoza
Substance
Conceived through itself, cannot produce another; mind and body modifications of same substance; indep,
Spinoza
Mode
Properties of a substance depend on substances; affect. / Affectations: modifications of attributes; Humans are modes of God’s existence
Spinoza
Attribute:
Descartes’ essence; not just property (intellect); Descartes’ thought; God is of infinite attributes; therefore there cannot be more than one substance with same attributes; *Known attributes of God are thinking and extension.
Spinoza:
inadequate
Product of imagination; Descartes’ obscure and confused; all sensory perception; only see finite modes; partiality; Passive.
Natura naturans
Active perspective of God’s action; Nature always in the process of becoming; nature "naturing". "Nature in the active sense" Nature not phenomenal, but nonetheless real, "supersenuous, but not supernatural"
natura naturata (Spinoza)
Passive; from determined mode; the sum total of the facts and phenomena of the senses"; it is nature "in the passive sense.⬝ Natura naturata requires some substance [N1] in order to be well understood.

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