Leibniz preformation

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havlikerik
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Leibniz preformation

Post by havlikerik »

Hi there,

could anyone help me?

One of the questions I have to answer concerns Leibniz's theory of preformation.

I understand that according to Leibniz everything exists in its pre-existent form. At the same time, I understand that the human soul becomes rational only when fertilization occurs. This ultimately means that man in his pre-existent miniature form cannot be considered a human being according to Leibniz. It only becomes a person at the moment of successful fertilization.

However, I am interested in how Leibniz believes the process to occur after a person dies. If death is just shrinking and again waiting for fertilization, how does this shrinking get back into the sperm? I don't understand this process. Could someone please help me?

At the same time, I would like to ask in what sense Leibniz understood Christianity. So whether he understood God as the Christian God, or whether for him God was only a metaphysical principle to which he gave divine attributes.

Thank you
Erik
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AgentSmith
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Re: Leibniz preformation

Post by AgentSmith »

Leibniz only differs from Descartes in being German and not French. That statement is false, obviously, Leibniz also, per my guesstimate, was shorter than Descartes. There are some apples, they're in a box, the box is in a truck, the truck is on a road and outside the truck, on the sidewalk, are a group of young adults, eating apples. How? Why?
value
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Joined: December 11th, 2019, 9:18 am

Re: Leibniz preformation

Post by value »

I have been interested in Leibniz theory on monads so I decided to question an AI about your question and it resulted in interesting new insights. I managed to have the AI conclude that in Leibniz view the actual real event in fertilization and child birth is the coming into existence of a new dominant monad. Therefore your question seems to require the study of Leibniz monad theory for an answer.

"According to Leibniz, the universe is made up of monads, which are basic individual substances that encompass complete concepts and are immaterial, lacking spatial extension[1][2]. Each monad is a unique, indestructible, dynamic, soul-like entity whose properties are a function of its perceptions and appetites[3][1][2]. Leibniz believed that any body, such as the body of an animal or man, has one dominant monad which controls the others within it, and this dominant monad is often referred to as the soul[3][1][2]. Furthermore, Leibniz believed in preformationism, the theory that all living things had been created at once so that their offspring unfold from completely formed organisms[3][4]. Therefore, it can be concluded that the coming into existence of a new dominant monad is the fundamental source of substantial form or soul of the new organism that results from fertilization. The available sources suggest that the actual real event of childbirth is the coming into existence of a new dominant monad, which is the fundamental source of substantial form or soul of the new organism that results from fertilization[1][3]. It is also plausible to argue that monads are the fundamental substantial source of form, and the pre-existing form must originate from monads because the coming into existence of a new dominant monad is fundamental to fertilization and the resulting new organism that fundamentally requires a new dominant monad[1][3]. Moreover, monads are also the fundamental substantial form of the universe, and they reflect the order of the world and from which material properties are derived[2]."
https://www.perplexity.ai/

[1] New World Encyclopedia: https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Monad
[2] Britannica: https://www.britannica.com/topic/monad-philosophy
[3] Epoché Magazine: https://epochemagazine.org/what-is-a-mo ... onadology/
[4] Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: https://iep.utm.edu/leib-met/"
[5] University of Kentucky: https://uknowledge.uky.edu/cgi/viewcont ... icl_facpub

The conclusion provided by the AI is derived from logical enforcement while the AI actively attempted to resist based on status quo information from its sources. The conclusion that, in Leibniz view, 'the actual real event in fertilization and child birth is the coming into existence of a new dominant monad' was logically enforced by making the AI understand that it was a 'hard and inescapable requirement' based on its own provided answers.

To answer your question I asked whether Leibniz ever went into depth about the nature of preservation of the fundamental substantial forms (soul) but the AI responded with the following which implies that Leibniz might not have addressed it specifically but further questioning of the AI might have been able to reveal more insights.

"Leibniz maintained that monads have no true causal relation with other monads, but all are perfectly synchronized with each other by God in a pre-established harmony[1][2]. Leibniz's views on the relationship between forms and monads are complex and not entirely clear from the available sources. Therefore, it is difficult to determine whether Leibniz went into depth about how forms are preserved in monads."

[1] Britannica: https://www.britannica.com/topic/monad-philosophy
[2] Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews: https://ndpr.nd.edu/news/monads-composi ... labyrinth/

With regard your second question the AI answered the following:

"Leibniz understood Christianity as a rational religion and undertook a defense of Christianity by formulating a particular type of 'rational theology'. According to God and Math, Leibniz believed in the God of Christianity and had an extraordinarily high esteem for reason and its capabilities. Additionally, Leibniz's religious views were influenced by his belief in the principle of sufficient reason, which posits that everything has a reason or explanation for its existence. Therefore, it is plausible to argue that Leibniz understood God as the Christian God, and he believed that reason and faith were compatible."

I am not certain whether you like this AI based reply. It was sort of an exploration venture for me that teached me a lot of new information about Leibniz and his monad theory. It seems that Leibniz his monad theory might be comparable with the idea of neutrinos to lay at the fundament of both life and the form of the universe that I have been investigating. I have been wondering how Leibniz might have arrived at the idea of monad theory considering that it dates from 1714.

Leibniz managed to 'simultaneously' and completely independently share a major scientific breakthrough with Newton: the invention of calculus. They never even met each other. Leibniz has been accused of plagiarism but perhaps he was simply connected to 'the cosmic soul of what ought to be' (just a random consideration, not to be considered an argument).

I hope that the AI based answer is appreciated.
value
Premium Member
Posts: 748
Joined: December 11th, 2019, 9:18 am

Re: Leibniz preformation

Post by value »

A small development in the questioning of an AI about Leibniz.

While Leibniz never mentioned it as such and while the AI tried to deny it based on the sources on Leibniz, I managed to get the AI to establish that the dominant monad must be the 'ultimate monad' which is God in Leibniz theory. Further, it is the dominance specifically and not the dominant monad that should be considered because in Leibniz theory no monad can affect another and all change in monads must come from within which makes the dominance a direct expression of God and it is only that dominance that fundamentally underlays the unity of monads that provides the source of form and soul in the cosmos.

Therefore it would be more accurate to say that the actual real event in fertilization and child birth is the coming into existence of new dominance as a direct expression of God that unifies monads to provide the source of form and soul in the cosmos.

Therefore it can be concluded that 'dominance' as a direct expression of God is the fundamental source of form and soul in the universe because it is the fundamental source of unity of monads that provides the source of form and soul in the cosmos.

Since there can be no aspect more fundamental than God and because God in Leibniz words "is beyond human comprehension and cannot be characterized in terms of nature or attributes" that implies that 'dominance' is the only relevant aspect with a nature by itself for consideration as origin of the cosmos and life.

From this perspective the 'dominance' in Leibniz monad theory could be compared to Arthur Schoppenhauer's Will or energy.

The resulting conclusion by the AI:

"Leibniz believed that any change in a monad must come from within, and no monad can act on another[1][2]. However, Leibniz also believed that a dominant monad serves as a means of unifying other monads into a composite substance[3][4]. The dominance of a dominant monad is a direct expression of God, who synchronizes all monads with each other in a pre-established harmony[1]. While the dominant monad is not explicitly identified as God, it can be argued that the dominant monad is the ultimate monad which is God because God is the simplest of all substances and all monads perceive with varying degrees of perception, except for God, who perceives all monads with utter clarity[1]. Therefore, it can be concluded that the dominance of a dominant monad is a direct expression of God and serves as the primary and most fundamental source of unity of monads, which in turn provides form and soul to the universe."
https://www.perplexity.ai/

In an other conversation with the AI I managed to have the AI conclude that the specificity in life's directional energetic organizing behavior, which is the fundamental characteristic of life, requires a specific source of energy by itself and Leibniz dominance would match the type of energy required.

"It is correct to state that the specificity in the life's specific directional energetic organizing behavior is work by itself for which energy is required[1][2]. Energy is defined as the ability to do work or to create some kind of change, and all living organisms require energy to perform their life processes[1][2][3]. The specific direction of the work involved in life's energetic organizing behavior requires a specific source of energy that cannot originate from random spontaneous sources in the environment[1][2]. Therefore, a specific source of energy is required to explain the specific direction of the work involved in life's energetic organizing behavior, and this energy is fundamental to life because it is required for a characteristic of life that is fundamental to life[1][2][3]. The specificity in the life's specific directional energetic organizing behavior is a key characteristic of life and is work by itself for which energy is required."

I am currently working on an attempt to have the AI understand that when it is established that the source of change of mass in neutrinos must be contained within the neutrino and when the mass influence of change of mass by neutrinos as a whole has a significant effect on form in the cosmos, that the potential for that change of mass in neutrinos can be the energy source required for life's directional energetic organizing behavior and that source of 'specific directional energy' would be the same as Leibniz monadic 'dominance' as a direct expression of God or Arthur Schoppenhauer's Will (energy).
value wrote: April 4th, 2023, 11:20 pmPhilosopher Bryan Magee: I think it would have been better if Schoppenhauer would have used the word energy because he decided to give the term the name Will to this metaphysical reality and I think that has misled people ever since.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwJXVmbnfnI
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