Justification of Plurality from the Perspective of Spinoza and Leibniz

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Human Sciences, Faculty of Theology, Farabi Campus, University of Tehran, Tehran

10.22081/nir.2025.69064.1450

Abstract

The relationship between unity and plurality, as one of the most fundamental philosophical questions, has always preoccupied thinkers and philosophers since long ago. In the meantime, Spinoza and Leibniz, as two prominent post-Cartesian rationalist philosophers, have each tried to find a suitable answer to this ancient dilemma. The following research, using a critical-comparative method, shows that Spinoza's approach to the issue of substance is monistic; in such a way that he considers God (i.e., the nature) to be the only infinite essence of the universe and considers other pluralities to lack true and independent existence and to be the manifestations of that single truth. He traces the root of the idea of ​​plurality back in the imperfection of human perception and believes that if a person goes beyond the level of imaginary ideas and achieves rational intuition, he will see nothing but God. On the other hand, Leibniz, by denying the extension of the attributes of physical objects, rejects the existence of material substance and, in contrast, introduces the "monad" as an individual and true substance. He considers monads to be infinite and plural substances and, therefore, clearly takes the position of pluralism; however, the plurality that he depicts is compatible and reconcilable with the eternal unity (even despite his harsh criticisms of Spinoza's monism). According to Leibniz, although the world is composed of monads, what gives the world the appearance of contrast and plurality is nothing but the difference in the perceptual degrees of the monads themselves. Also, what causes humans to see monads in the form of objects is the deficiency in the perception of monads; and therefore, God, due to having a perfect perception, only perceives monads and never sees them in the form of objects like humans.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

Spinoza, Baruch (1997). Ethics. Translated by Mohsen Jahangiri. Tehran: University Publishing Center.
Jolley, Nicholas (2012). Leibniz. Translated by Seyyed Masoud Hosseini. Tehran: Qoqnoos Publications.
Russell, Bertrand (2005). A Critical Exposition of the Philosophy of Leibniz, with an Appendix of Selected Passages. Translated by Iraj Legal. Tehran: Ney Publishing.
Sanei, Manouchehr (2004). The Philosophy of Leibniz. Tehran: Qoqnoos Publications.
Copleston, Frederick (2009). A History of Philosophy, Vol. 4. Translated by Gholamreza A’vani. Tehran: Elmi va Farhangi Publishing Company.
Leibniz, Gottfried (2022). The Monadology and Several Other Philosophical Essays. Translated by Abdolkarim Rashidian. Tehran: Elmi va Farhangi Publications.
Malekian, Mostafa (1998). A History of Western Philosophy, Vol. 2. Qom: Office for Cooperation between the Seminary and the University.
Russell, Bertrand (1983). A Critical Exposition of the Philosophy of Leibniz. London: Forgotten Books.
Latta, Robert (1951). Leibniz: The Monadology and Other Philosophical Writings. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm (2012). New Essays Concerning Human Understanding. London: Forgotten Books.
Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm (1956). Leibniz's Philosophical Papers and Letters. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Spinoza, Baruch (1985b). “Short Treatise on God, Man, and His Well-Being.” In Edwin Curley (Ed. & Trans.), The Collected Works of Spinoza, Vol. 1. New
 

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics