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Article LEIBNIZ AND SPINOZA. ← Page 4 of 25 →
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Leibniz And Spinoza.
branche . The latter , in his great work , takes up with much force the old rabbinical theory that God did not make all things out of nothing , but out of his own substance , and expresses himself thus : " I feel myself compelled to believe that my substance is eternal , that I myself am but a part of the Divine Being , and that all my thoughts are but modifications of the universal
reason . " Seeing" at once IIOAV a doctrine like this might degenerate into Pantheism , but not exactly seeing where the views of his antagonist had separated from the sublime Hebrew theory ( shadowed forth , be it observed , in the title peculiarly given by Masons to the Supreme Being ) , Eoucher , like his opponent , mingled truth AA ' ith error ; and as he did so with less genius and Avith
less acuteness , he has eAidently the Avorst of the dispute . Perhaps to the general reader the most interesting part of M . de Careil's two volumes will be found in " The Art of Knowing Mankind .- " Some fifty years before the observations of Leibniz were written , there was , in the literary society of Paris , and especially to be noted in the salons of Madame cle Sablea certain
, member of the academy , whose name seems to haA r e been more . in accordance Avith his ambition than AA'ith his capacities : he was called M . l'Abbe de l'Esprit . With some ingenuity , but little depth , he gave to the world a satirical essay , in Avhich he
attempted to prove that real virtue did not exist ; that all men were hypocrites , and that the only ruling motive in the world was a uniA'ersal selfishness . There was sufficient cleverness in his work for it to make a sensation at the time of its appearance ; and Rochefoucauld , long afterwards , not only made it the basis of his celebrated " Reflections , " but spoke constantly in
terms of the highest praise of his predecessor's labours . This book of M . de FEsjuit he boldly called ''' ' An Essay on the Falsehood of Human Virtues ; " but in a second edition he so far softened the title as to call it " The Art of knowing Mankind . " Long after the book had been forgotten in France , a copy found its way across the Rhine , and fell into the hands of an
accomplished German princess , the Electress of BrunsAvick Lunenburg , the wife of Rodolph Augustus . At this time the reputation of Leibniz was at its height ; and at the court of BrunsAvick in particular , nothing could be received unless it Avere sanctioned by his approval . The electress put the book in question into his hands ; andstruck with its sophistryand considering it
, , more dangerous than perhaps it Avas , he entered into a full refutation of the principles , or rather no principles , which it maintained . The letter to the electress , by which he prefaces his remarks , abounds Avith judicious reflections . He observes , that if perfect virtue be rare , extreme Avickedness is no less so ;
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Leibniz And Spinoza.
branche . The latter , in his great work , takes up with much force the old rabbinical theory that God did not make all things out of nothing , but out of his own substance , and expresses himself thus : " I feel myself compelled to believe that my substance is eternal , that I myself am but a part of the Divine Being , and that all my thoughts are but modifications of the universal
reason . " Seeing" at once IIOAV a doctrine like this might degenerate into Pantheism , but not exactly seeing where the views of his antagonist had separated from the sublime Hebrew theory ( shadowed forth , be it observed , in the title peculiarly given by Masons to the Supreme Being ) , Eoucher , like his opponent , mingled truth AA ' ith error ; and as he did so with less genius and Avith
less acuteness , he has eAidently the Avorst of the dispute . Perhaps to the general reader the most interesting part of M . de Careil's two volumes will be found in " The Art of Knowing Mankind .- " Some fifty years before the observations of Leibniz were written , there was , in the literary society of Paris , and especially to be noted in the salons of Madame cle Sablea certain
, member of the academy , whose name seems to haA r e been more . in accordance Avith his ambition than AA'ith his capacities : he was called M . l'Abbe de l'Esprit . With some ingenuity , but little depth , he gave to the world a satirical essay , in Avhich he
attempted to prove that real virtue did not exist ; that all men were hypocrites , and that the only ruling motive in the world was a uniA'ersal selfishness . There was sufficient cleverness in his work for it to make a sensation at the time of its appearance ; and Rochefoucauld , long afterwards , not only made it the basis of his celebrated " Reflections , " but spoke constantly in
terms of the highest praise of his predecessor's labours . This book of M . de FEsjuit he boldly called ''' ' An Essay on the Falsehood of Human Virtues ; " but in a second edition he so far softened the title as to call it " The Art of knowing Mankind . " Long after the book had been forgotten in France , a copy found its way across the Rhine , and fell into the hands of an
accomplished German princess , the Electress of BrunsAvick Lunenburg , the wife of Rodolph Augustus . At this time the reputation of Leibniz was at its height ; and at the court of BrunsAvick in particular , nothing could be received unless it Avere sanctioned by his approval . The electress put the book in question into his hands ; andstruck with its sophistryand considering it
, , more dangerous than perhaps it Avas , he entered into a full refutation of the principles , or rather no principles , which it maintained . The letter to the electress , by which he prefaces his remarks , abounds Avith judicious reflections . He observes , that if perfect virtue be rare , extreme Avickedness is no less so ;