Perception and Pluralism
Leibniz’s Theological Derivation of Perception in Connection with Platonism, Rationalism and Substance Monism
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21291597 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Gaston Robert (0000-0002-9110-5187, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Liberal Arts Diagonal Las Torres 2640, Peñalolén, Santiago, room 232-B Santiago USA, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2020 |
| Volume | 102 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 56-101 |
| Publication date | 2020-03-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0003-9101 • E-ISSN: 0943-3988 |
| Publisher | Walter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE) |
| DOI | 10.1515/agph-2020-1003 |
| OpenAlex | W3009254643 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 21 |
This article discusses Leibniz’s claim that every substance is endowed with the property of perception in connection with Platonism, rationalism and the problem of substance monism. It is argued that Leibniz’s ascription of perception to every substance relies on his Platonic conception of finite things as imitations of God, in whom there is ‘infinite perception’. Leibniz’s Platonism, however, goes beyond the notion of imitation, including also the emanative causal relation and the logical (i.e. definitional) priority of the absolute over the limited. It is proposed that Leibniz’s endorsement of Platonism, in conjunction with some rationalist elements of his philosophy, implies a monistic conception of particulars as modifications of a single substance. Following some scholars and opposing others, the article offers evidence that Leibniz accepted this implication during the last years of his Paris period. However, it is further argued that it was precisely the idea of perception as a property of every substance that allowed Leibniz to find a way out of monism after that period. More specifically, the article defends the view that what made room for ontological pluralism within Leibniz’s rationalist and Platonic outlook was the idea that perception is the property which constitutes the very being of substances: substances are their perceptions
Empiricism · Epistemology · Metaphysics · Monism · Perception · Platonism · Pluralism (philosophy) · Property (philosophy) · Rationalism · Historical Philosophy and Science · Medieval and Classical Philosophy · Philosophy · Seventeenth-Century Political and Philosophical Thought
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,33 |
| Citation span | 2023 - 2023 (1) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |