Leibniz Monadology

LEIBNIZ MONADOLOGY

The Monadology attempts to define the ultimate substance of the world. The first part of The Monadology explains what a monad is, whereas, the second part of The Monadology concentrates on metaphysical principles. All that there is in the universe consists of monads, which there are an infinite number of them. A monad is a simple, indivisible substance. They have a certain type of perfection to them. Monads have an infinite number of properties; they have all the properties that they will ever need to exhibit during the course of their existence. Therefore, all their properties are built in at the beginning of their existence. This means that they have a substantial form and ultimately have a final cause. This means that there is no way in which another monad may externally cause any change to another. If that's the case, then, it seems that all these monads are similar. In fact, that is not the case because there are no two perfectly alike beings in nature, or else all monads would be identical from one another. The changes that occur within monads occur due to internal principles; they are not caused externally. Internal principle is the change from one perception to another, which is called appetition. Monads manifest perceptions, which are states that undergo transitions as they unfold. The appetition is the energy driving the monads with its perceptions towards its state shift or end. However, the appetition does not always reach the perception it wanted to, but always attains a portion of it, as a result, still, creating something new. Therefore, every present state of a monad is a resultant of its preceding state. Knowledge of necessary truth furnishes man with reason or mind and the sciences. Man's reasoning is based on two principles: contradiction and sufficient reason. In addition, there are two types of truths: reasoning and fact. Truths of reasoning can be found through analysis. This is a process where one simplifies a substance or idea until they reach the first and most primitives of the ideas. Even bodies can be broken down to infinity of simple substances. Within this process of simplification, there can be boundless amount of detail. Sufficient or ultimate reason must be outside of this process of simplifying, no matter how infinite it may be or how far back in time one may go. Therefore, there must be one simple substance in which all these simplifying may lead to, and that substance is a monad. And this monad is God. God is the primitive substance and following God's existence, monads are derived. However, because they are derived from God, it does not follow that they are a mirror image of God. They are not perfect like God; they are just an imitation of God. God is perfect because God is capable of acting externally unto others while monads are imperfect. Because they are acted upon another and they cannot have a direct act upon another without the involvement of God. One creature is more perfect than another as long as it is capable of causing something against the other. Therefore, God is more perfect than a monad. Because one, God created monads, and two, God regulates monads.

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