LEIBNITZ

Leibniz was a famous mathematician. He held that the world has logical and
mathematical order Laws thatgovern this world order are rational. Therefore, the world
can only be comprehended by reason.

Leibnitz was greatly impressed by the unity which Spinoza had emphasized in his
philosophy. But Spinoza did so at the cost of variety and the individuality of things.

Spinoza gives us the whole or the blank universal from which parts have
disappeared. But Leibnizbegins with the reality of parts, the extreme multiplicity of
finite experience and tries to determine their naturein order to discover the real parts
of the real whole. Thus, he begins with the opposite thesis of pluralism

Now, parts in order to be real must be as real as the whole. The insistence on the
made him believe in pluralism.

Thus, we find that substance of Spinoza has been broken into bits and each bit
becomes as eternal and real asthe one substance of Spinoza

Monadology.
According to Leibniz, monads are the ultimate substance and spiritual atoms. Monads
are only real and actualmetaphysical points without which nothing can be real.
Monads are metaphysical units of all living and non-living things. Monads are self-
dependent, self-created and self-existent. Monads are infinite, simple and
undistributed force. According to Leibniz, this whole universe is an orderly arid
harmonious arrangement of such monads.

Like Jiva of Jainism, Purusha of Samkhya and Self of Ramanuja, monads of Leibniz
are qualitatively alike but quantitatively differ only in degrees.

Monads are following characteristics.

1. Indivisibility. Monads are simplest, have no form, occupy no space. In creation
and dissolution of' objects and living beings, they integrate and disintegrate,
but monads are not themselves influenced.

2. Monads are eternal in the sense that they are timeless.

3. Monads are substance of which only cogito, that is, consciousness is the
attribute Hence, monad' is that which is unextended.

4. All monads are active. Logically, it could be deduced that dualism between
matter and mind or bodyand mind is ended since monads are un-extended.
 5. Monads are self-contained and self-determined.

6. They are infinitely small and infinite in number.

7. Monads are windowless. Being independent, self-contained, self-determined,

within the monad itself. This self-mobility is called appetation by Leibniz and it
is this which causes monads to evolve. That is, no force can activate it from
outside.
Hence, each monad contains the whole infinity of existence. It is the whole
universe itself potentially.Each monad is a world in a miniature. Macrocosm is
in microcosm. As an all-inclusive whole, it mirrors the world. Every activity is

everything which happens to it.

8. Each monad is unique, unparalleled and independent.

Types of monads
According to Leibniz, all monads do not represent the universe equally. According to
quantitative distinctions, the monads are of five types.

1. In the first place, there are material monads in which conscious-ness is at the
lowest level.

2. Then there are monads of the vegetable kingdom in which the consciousness is
in a dreamlike state.

3. The third group of monads is that of animal beings.

4. The fourth class includes human beings who are self-conscious.

5. The fifth type is monasmonadum the God. God is perfect and omniscient.

Just as God is the soul of the innumerable monads in the universe, similarly in every
living being there is aself-conscious soul governing the innumerable monads. Each
monad is independent of other monads. All ideas, according to Leibnitz, are innate.
Therefore, all our knowledge is self development. There is no inter-communication
between different monads because monads are windowless.

Principle of continuity
According to Leibniz, monads are found in a continuous series and a hierarchical
order of existence. Eachmonad imperceptibly leads to others. There is no abrupt
change, just as number systems are arranged in acontinuous series. In this
continuity, consciousness increases with every stage. The higher a particular monadis,
the greater will be its activity, power of perception, mobility and force. Higher level of
monads possessesall the qualities of lower levels besides possessing certain unique
quality.
According to law of continuity, Leibniz believes that "possibility of future is inherent in
the present. Everypresent condition of monad is inevitable result of its past state. In
this way, its present is full of future.

Each monad is unique and within it, theory of continuity works. Different events and
occurrences within themonad are bound in a continuous change. Thus, Leibniz sees
continuity everywhere in action and inaction, good and bad, clarity and confusion,
plants and animals, animals and human beings, etc.

By postulating this theory, Leibniz manages to bridge the gap between monads and
without this, his pluralistictheory would be incomplete. It is this principle which
establishes some order between individual existences.

Activities of monads
According to Leibniz, monad is an active substance exhibiting two kinds of activities.

1. First, perception.
universe. It is the livingmirror of the substance. But, the representation of each
monad is individual and distinct

Each monad presents its own individual view of the universe and thus, universe
is representeddifferently by different monads. From it emerges the law of
identity of in discernible. It implies thatthings between which there is no
difference are one and things which are not identical are not one.Since monads
differ from each other in respect of their stage in order of continuity and
theirrespective position in space and time, there can be no identity between
them. So, no two monads inthe universe are alike. In that way, this law forms
the basis of Leibniz

2. Second, appetation. It is the self-mobility or the force by virtue of which monads

evolve and tends tobecome whole. By virtue of appetation, each monad tends to
pass from obscure to clear perception. Ifaction is done from very obscure
perception, then it is known as impulse and if done from clearperception, then
it is will. Thus, activity of lower monads is purely random and impulsive and
inhigher monads, activities are promoted by will and desire.

Problem of relation between monads

Since monads are independent, self-contained, self-determined, self-existent and
windowless, the problem ofrelations between monads arises. Leibniz seeks to solve
this problem with his philosophy of pre-estab1ishedharmony (PEI)

Leibniz assumed that harmony between monads has been established by God. He has
so arranged the series ofmonads in their hierarchical order that change in one is
preceded and followed in other monads harmoniously.To the perceiver; it appears that
change in A is the cause of the change in B. But, in reality, monads beingwindowless
cannot interact with one another. It means that whatever happens in one monad is
 -established by God in other monads at the time of
creation only.

Thus, monads work independently of all other monads according to their own inner
urge. But, this inner urgeor inner plan coincides with the realization of one master
plan in the mind of the creator. Because each monadtries to realize same final end in
the mind of the creator, therefore a harmony is reached in their working.

It seeks to introduce unity in diversity. It also seeks to solve the problem of body and
mind. But, in strictsense, there is no body beca
philosophy. Body is merely an aggregate of bare monads. It is an organism of which
every part is a living force.

In this aggregate of bare monads, there is queen monad which mirrors the activity of
surrounding monads andthrough the aggregate, mirrors the change of all other
monads of the universe more clearly than others. This queen monad by virtue of its
superiority in the aggregate may be termed as soul.

Thus, according to the doctrine of pre-established odies act as if there

were no souls and souls actas if there were no bodies and both act as if each
the other .