Ohad Nachtomy
{"title":"Remarks on Possibilia in Leibniz, 1672-1676: Quod non omnia possibilia ad intelligentiam perveniant?","authors":"Ohad Nachtomy","doi":"10.5840/LEIBNIZ20081813","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"n a recent article Fabrizio Mondadori studies in detail the scholastic background for Leibniz's view of possibilia . Mondadori concludes that, \"Leibniz sharply distinguishes between the question of the possibility, and the question of the reality, of possibilia , and explicitly suggests that the reality - but not the possibility - of possibilia depends on the (actual) existence of God\". 1 The expression 'the possibility of possibilia' might seem a bit cumbersome for making a simple point, namely that possibility for Leibniz depends on the principle of contradiction alone, so that possibilities are defined by freedom from contradiction (or by self-consistency) and depend on nothing else. In particular, and against Descartes' voluntarist view of the eternal truths, for Leibniz, possibility is independent of God's will. According to Leibniz, God finds all possibilities fully formed in his understanding. This point provides a central premise in Leibniz's early reasoning in the confessio philosophi that God is not to be regarded as the Author of sin. Sins are understood and then permitted existence by God as part of the most harmonious series of things, but they are found (among the ideas of all things) in God's understanding and are not willed or made by God. Thus, Leibniz's God cannot make something possible impossible or vice versa. This is governed by purely logical considerations stemming from the law of contradiction. Even if indeed cumbersome, this terminology (the possibility of possibilia ) brings out some of the historical context (in its traditional jargon) and highlights the contrast with the question of the reality of possibilia . 2 The thesis that the reality of possibila depends on God means that, according to Leibniz, possibilities are not free floating or self-sufficient like platonic forms; rather, they are conceived in God's understanding and are among the objects of his understanding. This gives rise to a difficult question: if God does not think certain possibilities, are they to be considered possible or not? In somewhat different words, does it make sense to claim that God does not conceive certain possibilities, i.e., self-consistent concepts? While possibilities are certainly independent from God's will, and depend on the principle of contradiction, they do not seem to be entirely independent from some thinking agent. As Massimo Mugnai notes, \"there are no ideas without the intellectual activity of someone thinking (be it God or man or some other rational","PeriodicalId":137959,"journal":{"name":"The Leibniz Review","volume":"19 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2008-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"2","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"The Leibniz Review","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.5840/LEIBNIZ20081813","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 2

摘要

在最近的一篇文章中,法布里齐奥·蒙达多利详细研究了莱布尼茨可能性观的学术背景。蒙达多利总结道:“莱布尼茨对可能性的问题和现实性、可能性的问题进行了尖锐的区分,并明确地指出,可能性的现实性——而不是可能性——取决于上帝的(实际)存在。”用"可能性的可能性"这个说法来说明一个简单的观点,即莱布尼茨的可能性只依赖于矛盾原则,因此可能性是由不矛盾的自由(或自洽性)来定义的,而不依赖于任何其他东西。莱布尼茨特别反对笛卡尔关于永恒真理的唯意志论观点,他认为可能性独立于上帝的意志。根据莱布尼茨的说法,上帝在他的理解中发现了所有的可能性。这一点为莱布尼茨早期的忏悔哲学推理提供了一个中心前提,即上帝不应被视为罪的作者。罪被上帝理解,然后被允许作为最和谐的一系列事物的一部分存在,但它们(在所有事物的观念中)是在上帝的理解中发现的,不是上帝的意愿或上帝所创造的。因此,莱布尼茨的上帝不能使可能成为不可能,反之亦然。这是由源于矛盾法则的纯粹逻辑考虑所支配的。即使确实很麻烦,这个术语(可能性的可能性)带出了一些历史背景(在其传统术语中),并突出了与可能性的现实问题的对比。可能性的现实取决于上帝的命题意味着,根据莱布尼茨的观点,可能性不像柏拉图式的形式那样自由浮动或自给自足;相反,它们是在上帝的理解中孕育出来的,是他理解的对象之一。这就产生了一个难题:如果上帝不考虑某些可能性,那么它们是可能的还是不可能的?换句话说,声称上帝没有构想出某些可能性,即自洽概念,这有意义吗?虽然可能性当然独立于上帝的意志,并依赖于矛盾原则,但它们似乎并不完全独立于某个思考主体。正如马西莫·穆格奈(Massimo Mugnai)所指出的,“没有人(无论是上帝、人类还是其他理性的人)思考的智力活动,就没有思想。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
Remarks on Possibilia in Leibniz, 1672-1676: Quod non omnia possibilia ad intelligentiam perveniant?
n a recent article Fabrizio Mondadori studies in detail the scholastic background for Leibniz's view of possibilia . Mondadori concludes that, "Leibniz sharply distinguishes between the question of the possibility, and the question of the reality, of possibilia , and explicitly suggests that the reality - but not the possibility - of possibilia depends on the (actual) existence of God". 1 The expression 'the possibility of possibilia' might seem a bit cumbersome for making a simple point, namely that possibility for Leibniz depends on the principle of contradiction alone, so that possibilities are defined by freedom from contradiction (or by self-consistency) and depend on nothing else. In particular, and against Descartes' voluntarist view of the eternal truths, for Leibniz, possibility is independent of God's will. According to Leibniz, God finds all possibilities fully formed in his understanding. This point provides a central premise in Leibniz's early reasoning in the confessio philosophi that God is not to be regarded as the Author of sin. Sins are understood and then permitted existence by God as part of the most harmonious series of things, but they are found (among the ideas of all things) in God's understanding and are not willed or made by God. Thus, Leibniz's God cannot make something possible impossible or vice versa. This is governed by purely logical considerations stemming from the law of contradiction. Even if indeed cumbersome, this terminology (the possibility of possibilia ) brings out some of the historical context (in its traditional jargon) and highlights the contrast with the question of the reality of possibilia . 2 The thesis that the reality of possibila depends on God means that, according to Leibniz, possibilities are not free floating or self-sufficient like platonic forms; rather, they are conceived in God's understanding and are among the objects of his understanding. This gives rise to a difficult question: if God does not think certain possibilities, are they to be considered possible or not? In somewhat different words, does it make sense to claim that God does not conceive certain possibilities, i.e., self-consistent concepts? While possibilities are certainly independent from God's will, and depend on the principle of contradiction, they do not seem to be entirely independent from some thinking agent. As Massimo Mugnai notes, "there are no ideas without the intellectual activity of someone thinking (be it God or man or some other rational
求助全文
通过发布文献求助,成功后即可免费获取论文全文。 去求助
来源期刊
CiteScore
0.10
自引率
0.00%
发文量
0
×
引用
GB/T 7714-2015
复制
MLA
复制
APA
复制
导出至
BibTeX EndNote RefMan NoteFirst NoteExpress
×
提示
您的信息不完整,为了账户安全,请先补充。
现在去补充
×
提示
您因"违规操作"
具体请查看互助需知
我知道了
×
提示
确定
请完成安全验证×
copy
已复制链接
快去分享给好友吧!
我知道了
右上角分享
点击右上角分享
0
联系我们:info@booksci.cn Book学术提供免费学术资源搜索服务,方便国内外学者检索中英文文献。致力于提供最便捷和优质的服务体验。 Copyright © 2023 布克学术 All rights reserved.
京ICP备2023020795号-1
ghs 京公网安备 11010802042870号
Book学术文献互助
Book学术文献互助群
群 号:604180095
Book学术官方微信