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Article LEIBNIZ AND SPINOZA. ← Page 20 of 25 →
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Leibniz And Spinoza.
himself perceptible , he takes a corporeal form , to bring before the soul that which the soul ought to knoAV of the material union : he becomes the matter or substance of its perceptions . Existing in spirit by means of thought , and in matter by means of extent , God is at once the object and the subject of knoAvledge , the mirror and image of the universe . When in the
soul there is the perception of matter without , then it is God in extent , making himself knoAvn to God in thought . These are the tAvo phases of the Deity , which is , nevertheless , one , the same , and indivisible . This theory is contradictory to that which denies all order and harmony , but Spinoza did not perceiA'e this ; he Avillingly admitted order and harmony , provided he might attribute them to a philosophical necessity , so long as he was not obliged to look on God as the author of them ; and on this point Leibniz is very strong .
" Order is Heaven ' s first law : " and there is much eloquence , as Avell as philosophy , in the way in which he appeals to the works of the great Creator as evidences of his attributes . Leibniz was far from rejecting the consideration of the infinite as an element in the philosophy of nature . It is with
him the first principle of harmony : it is the elimination , by means of "monads , " of all mechanism from the commencement of creation . Spinoza never lifted up his mind to a philosophy so high as this . He could understand a physical influence acting upon nature ; he could conceive of this influence above and from Avithout , but not as springing up within ; and while he
fancied he was laying clown one general rule for all the empire of change , he was merely extending beyond its boundaries that of inactivity . Step by step does Leibniz folloAV his great , but mistaken antagonist ; many points he touches lightly , some he merely names and passes over ; but upAvards of twenty propositions he exhibits in all their tendenciesand either disproves
, , or at least censru'es them . He did more than was necessary to render his refutation complete , if it be true , as was said by Fenelon , that in Avhatever Avay Ave attack this pretended system , it immediately falls hopelessly to pieces . But in considering Leibniz as controverting , and indeed refutingthe pantheistical hilosophof Sinozait seems
, p y p , strange that he should never have seen that he was at the same time overturning his own . theory of an immutable chain of events . The necessitarian scheme requires but to be brought to its OAvn consequences to merge itself into the predestinarian .. If there be a God , active , wise , and mighty , and having all these
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Leibniz And Spinoza.
himself perceptible , he takes a corporeal form , to bring before the soul that which the soul ought to knoAV of the material union : he becomes the matter or substance of its perceptions . Existing in spirit by means of thought , and in matter by means of extent , God is at once the object and the subject of knoAvledge , the mirror and image of the universe . When in the
soul there is the perception of matter without , then it is God in extent , making himself knoAvn to God in thought . These are the tAvo phases of the Deity , which is , nevertheless , one , the same , and indivisible . This theory is contradictory to that which denies all order and harmony , but Spinoza did not perceiA'e this ; he Avillingly admitted order and harmony , provided he might attribute them to a philosophical necessity , so long as he was not obliged to look on God as the author of them ; and on this point Leibniz is very strong .
" Order is Heaven ' s first law : " and there is much eloquence , as Avell as philosophy , in the way in which he appeals to the works of the great Creator as evidences of his attributes . Leibniz was far from rejecting the consideration of the infinite as an element in the philosophy of nature . It is with
him the first principle of harmony : it is the elimination , by means of "monads , " of all mechanism from the commencement of creation . Spinoza never lifted up his mind to a philosophy so high as this . He could understand a physical influence acting upon nature ; he could conceive of this influence above and from Avithout , but not as springing up within ; and while he
fancied he was laying clown one general rule for all the empire of change , he was merely extending beyond its boundaries that of inactivity . Step by step does Leibniz folloAV his great , but mistaken antagonist ; many points he touches lightly , some he merely names and passes over ; but upAvards of twenty propositions he exhibits in all their tendenciesand either disproves
, , or at least censru'es them . He did more than was necessary to render his refutation complete , if it be true , as was said by Fenelon , that in Avhatever Avay Ave attack this pretended system , it immediately falls hopelessly to pieces . But in considering Leibniz as controverting , and indeed refutingthe pantheistical hilosophof Sinozait seems
, p y p , strange that he should never have seen that he was at the same time overturning his own . theory of an immutable chain of events . The necessitarian scheme requires but to be brought to its OAvn consequences to merge itself into the predestinarian .. If there be a God , active , wise , and mighty , and having all these