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Article LEIBNIZ AND SPINOZA. ← Page 19 of 25 →
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Leibniz And Spinoza.
"We may also add that God is so also , if indeed the term object be fit to be applied to him . It is not necessary that that which Ave declare concerning objects Avithout , should be absolutely exact ; it is only necessary that it rightly express them ; just as an ellipse expresses a circle seen sideAvays , so that at each point of the circle there shall be a corresponding point in
the ellipse , according to a certain mathematical law . For , as I have already said , each individual substance expresses the entire universe in its oion manner , as the same city will assume different aspects , according as it is seen from different points . Every effect expresses its cause , and the cause of each substance is to be sought in the divine resolution to create it ; but this
resolution involves a reference to the Avhole universe , God in the formation of each part haA'ing had the Avhole in vieAv , just as even among men , we find that the wisest have the Avidest and yet the most connected designs . " This passage exhibiting one of the phases of his great theory , the " prseestablished harmony , " is eiridently at variance with the Avhole of Spinozism , as much in what it assumes , as in Avhat it asserts : and it is also valuable in another point of A'iew as implying , Avhat Leibniz was ever Avilling to grant , that in the
most contrary opinions there may be , and will be found a large portion of truth , if we can but place ourselves in the moral and intellectual position of him AA'hom we judge . We have already alluded to what may be termed the pantheism of Malebranche , we turn again to the pantheism of Spinoza . It AVOUIC ! have been absiu'd for this latter to have
rested in this universal denial ; he could not close his eyes to the operations of nature without , nor to those of his OAVU intellect within ; and he accordingly , while he deprived his Deity of all Avill and independent action , made him ( or it ?) pervading , by a philosophical necessity , all beings and all space : indeed , he declares that God enters into the nature of things , as an
element , and influences them physically Avith a force so great that every other influence becomes superfluous . If the soul obtains a knowledge of any extraneous body , it is God who infuses into the soul that knowledge ; and that wliich Malebranche looked on as a kind of diA'ine operation , spiritual , supernaturalalmost miraculousSpinoza regarded as an
opera-, , tion equally divine , but natural or physical . God , according to him , enters into the nature or substance of the soul by means of ideas , and inasmuch as he constitutes it , and expresses himself , so far the soul has ideas , and perceives . But this same God Avho enters into the nature of the soul by ideas , enters into the nature of matter by extent . He makes
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Leibniz And Spinoza.
"We may also add that God is so also , if indeed the term object be fit to be applied to him . It is not necessary that that which Ave declare concerning objects Avithout , should be absolutely exact ; it is only necessary that it rightly express them ; just as an ellipse expresses a circle seen sideAvays , so that at each point of the circle there shall be a corresponding point in
the ellipse , according to a certain mathematical law . For , as I have already said , each individual substance expresses the entire universe in its oion manner , as the same city will assume different aspects , according as it is seen from different points . Every effect expresses its cause , and the cause of each substance is to be sought in the divine resolution to create it ; but this
resolution involves a reference to the Avhole universe , God in the formation of each part haA'ing had the Avhole in vieAv , just as even among men , we find that the wisest have the Avidest and yet the most connected designs . " This passage exhibiting one of the phases of his great theory , the " prseestablished harmony , " is eiridently at variance with the Avhole of Spinozism , as much in what it assumes , as in Avhat it asserts : and it is also valuable in another point of A'iew as implying , Avhat Leibniz was ever Avilling to grant , that in the
most contrary opinions there may be , and will be found a large portion of truth , if we can but place ourselves in the moral and intellectual position of him AA'hom we judge . We have already alluded to what may be termed the pantheism of Malebranche , we turn again to the pantheism of Spinoza . It AVOUIC ! have been absiu'd for this latter to have
rested in this universal denial ; he could not close his eyes to the operations of nature without , nor to those of his OAVU intellect within ; and he accordingly , while he deprived his Deity of all Avill and independent action , made him ( or it ?) pervading , by a philosophical necessity , all beings and all space : indeed , he declares that God enters into the nature of things , as an
element , and influences them physically Avith a force so great that every other influence becomes superfluous . If the soul obtains a knowledge of any extraneous body , it is God who infuses into the soul that knowledge ; and that wliich Malebranche looked on as a kind of diA'ine operation , spiritual , supernaturalalmost miraculousSpinoza regarded as an
opera-, , tion equally divine , but natural or physical . God , according to him , enters into the nature or substance of the soul by means of ideas , and inasmuch as he constitutes it , and expresses himself , so far the soul has ideas , and perceives . But this same God Avho enters into the nature of the soul by ideas , enters into the nature of matter by extent . He makes