A 21st Century MONADOLOGY or Principles of Philosophy

Abstract

This work presents a recasting and tribute to Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz’s 1714 text, known as the Monadology_,_ on its 300th anniversary (first released in 2014 with some revisions in 2024), analysing it from a 21st century philosophical and scientific perspective. Leibniz’s monads are reinterpreted as indivisible dynamic modes of action as described by modern physics. His key insights regarding the relational and perspectival nature of reality, and the distinction between the telic causation of indivisible entities vs the efficient causation of aggregates, are highlighted as prescient of quantum physics and the correspondence principle. The practical biological application of his ideas requires updating, but even there, he shows some remarkably forward-looking thoughts. The traditional concept of an immortal human soul is replaced by an audience of ephemeral cellular “listeners” that apperceive the living story of a person. Leibniz’s principles are seen to contain powerful and still relevant insights into the nature of physical reality, human knowledge and ethics, meriting further exploration in light of contemporary science. In summary, while specific aspects of Leibniz’s synthesis require updating, his core logical principles and global vision retain surprising relevance and potential for reframing our understanding.