Philosopher Leibniz
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Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz was born in Leipzig in 1646 and died at the age of 70 in 1716. His philosophy was in part a rejection of the philosophies of Descartes and Spinoza and what he saw as their inadequate explanation of the relationship between "God, man, and nature, each of which Leibniz wanted to keep separate." Leibniz seems to have been determined to create a philosophy which was as positive as possible, rather than to rigorously explore reality scientifically and objectively and declare what he had found whatever it might be. It is no surprise, in that context, to find that Leibniz not only argues for the existence of God, but also goes on to argue that God has essentially created the best of all possible worlds here, despite any evidence to the contrary. Leibniz's optimism seems to fly in the face of all the evidence that this is hardly a perfect world. He means that everything makes sense in the world, whatever happens, if only human beings could have the same perspective which God has.Leibniz bases his argument for the existence of God on the principle of sufficient reason. He believed that the universe was in a state of harmony, based on the fundamental unit of energy called the monad. The monad is an "unextended" metaphysical entity, with no shape or size, "independent of other monads," with "no causal relation to each other." As odd as this may sound, Stumpf points out that these basic units of energy do call to mind the scientific discoveries of the mo
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e believes his principle of sufficient reason is superior to proofs based on first cause. The argument from first cause does not get us to God, says Leibniz, because every cause leads infinitely back to another cause:
Only by referring to some cause outside the series of causes, or outside the complex organization of the universe, can the solution be found for the existence of any particular thing. The final reason, or the sufficient reason, for all things is found in a substance whose own existence is necessary, whose existence requires no cause or further explanation, a Being "whose essence involves existence, for this is what is meant by a necessary Being."
That necessary Being, says Leibniz, is God. When he does get around to explaining how imperfections (ignorance, evil, suffering) can exist in a world created by a perfect God, he simply argues that God could not make another being because then there would be, in effect, two Gods, or many Gods if one considers the number of people in the world: "God could not give the creature all without making it God."
Again, it seems that Leibniz is simply making it up as he goes along. Does he deny the imperfections in the world? Not entirely, but he does argue that God made the w
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Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)
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