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Ideas from 'New Essays on Human Understanding' by Gottfried Leibniz [1704], by Theme Structure

[found in 'New Essays on Human Understanding' by Leibniz,Gottfried (ed/tr Remnant/Bennett) [CUP 1996,0-521-57660]].

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1. Philosophy / F. Analytic Philosophy / 1. Nature of Analysis
12997 Analysis is the art of finding the middle term
2. Reason / A. Nature of Reason / 1. On Reason
13009 A reason is a known truth which leads to assent to some further truth
2. Reason / A. Nature of Reason / 7. Status of Reason
12963 Opposing reason is opposing truth, since reason is a chain of truths
2. Reason / B. Laws of Thought / 1. Laws of Thought
19360 General principles, even if unconscious, are indispensable for thinking
2. Reason / D. Definition / 3. Types of Definition
12983 A nominal definition is of the qualities, but the real definition is of the essential inner structure
2. Reason / D. Definition / 4. Real Definition
12982 One essence can be expressed by several definitions
12976 If our ideas of a thing are imperfect, the thing can have several unconnected definitions
12984 Real definitions, unlike nominal definitions, display possibilities
2. Reason / D. Definition / 5. Genus and Differentia
12980 Genus and differentia might be swapped, and 'rational animal' become 'animable rational'
3. Truth / C. Correspondence Truth / 1. Correspondence Truth
13000 Truth is correspondence between mental propositions and what they are about
5. Theory of Logic / A. Overview of Logic / 3. Value of Logic
12992 Logic teaches us how to order and connect our thoughts
5. Theory of Logic / C. Ontology of Logic / 3. If-Thenism
10056 At bottom eternal truths are all conditional
5. Theory of Logic / F. Referring in Logic / 1. Naming / a. Names
12974 People who can't apply names usually don't understand the thing to which it applies
5. Theory of Logic / K. Features of Logics / 1. Axiomatisation
13002 It is always good to reduce the number of axioms
6. Mathematics / A. Nature of Mathematics / 2. Geometry
13008 Geometry, unlike sensation, lets us glimpse eternal truths and their necessity
6. Mathematics / A. Nature of Mathematics / 4. Using Numbers / a. Units
12956 Only whole numbers are multitudes of units
6. Mathematics / B. Foundations for Mathematics / 3. Axioms for Geometry
12937 We shouldn't just accept Euclid's axioms, but try to demonstrate them
7. Existence / A. Nature of Existence / 3. Being / h. Dasein (being human)
12932 The idea of being must come from our own existence
7. Existence / C. Structure of Existence / 7. Abstract/Concrete / a. Abstract/concrete
12966 Objects of ideas can be divided into abstract and concrete, and then further subdivided
7. Existence / E. Categories / 3. Proposed Categories
12993 Have five categories - substance, quantity, quality, action/passion, relation - and their combinations
7. Existence / E. Categories / 4. Category Realism
12989 Our true divisions of nature match reality, but are probably incomplete
8. Modes of Existence / C. Powers and Dispositions / 1. Powers
12959 We discern active power from our minds, so mind must be involved in all active powers
12967 I use the word 'entelechy' for a power, to include endeavour, as well as mere aptitude
8. Modes of Existence / C. Powers and Dispositions / 2. Powers as Basic
12965 All occurrence in the depth of a substance is spontaneous 'action'
12999 Substances are primary powers; their ways of being are the derivative powers
8. Modes of Existence / C. Powers and Dispositions / 4. Powers as Essence
5056 Material or immaterial substances cannot be conceived without their essential activity
8. Modes of Existence / C. Powers and Dispositions / 5. Powers and Properties
12969 The active powers which are not essential to the substance are the 'real qualities'
8. Modes of Existence / C. Powers and Dispositions / 6. Dispositions / b. Dispositions and powers
12941 There cannot be power without action; the power is a disposition to act
9. Objects / A. Existence of Objects / 2. Abstract Objects / a. Nature of abstracta
12990 Real (non-logical) abstract terms are either essences or accidents
9. Objects / A. Existence of Objects / 2. Abstract Objects / c. Modern abstracta
12939 Wholly uniform things like space and numbers are mere abstractions
9. Objects / A. Existence of Objects / 5. Individuation / a. Individuation
12979 The only way we can determine individuals is by keeping hold of them
9. Objects / A. Existence of Objects / 5. Individuation / b. Individuation by properties
12971 If two individuals could be indistinguishable, there could be no principle of individuation
9. Objects / A. Existence of Objects / 5. Individuation / c. Individuation by location
13098 We use things to distinguish places and times, not vice versa
9. Objects / A. Existence of Objects / 5. Individuation / d. Individuation by haecceity
13075 No two things are quite the same, so there must be an internal principle of distinction
9. Objects / A. Existence of Objects / 6. Nihilism about Objects
12953 Fluidity is basic, and we divide into bodies according to our needs
9. Objects / B. Unity of Objects / 2. Substance / a. Substance
12943 Individuality is in the bond substance gives between past and future
9. Objects / B. Unity of Objects / 2. Substance / d. Substance defined
11855 Substances cannot be bare, but have activity as their essence
9. Objects / B. Unity of Objects / 3. Unity Problems / d. Coincident objects
12970 We can imagine two bodies interpenetrating, as two rays of light seem to
9. Objects / B. Unity of Objects / 3. Unity Problems / e. Vague objects
12986 The essence of baldness is vague and imperfect
9. Objects / C. Structure of Objects / 7. Substratum
12968 A 'substratum' is just a metaphor for whatever supports several predicates
9. Objects / D. Essence of Objects / 3. Individual Essences
12931 Particular truths are just instances of general truths
12811 We can't know individuals, or determine their exact individuality
9. Objects / D. Essence of Objects / 4. Essence as Definition
12981 Essence is just the possibility of a thing
9. Objects / D. Essence of Objects / 8. Essence as Explanatory
5057 If you fully understand a subject and its qualities, you see how the second derive from the first
9. Objects / D. Essence of Objects / 10. Essence as Species
12987 For some sorts, a member of it is necessarily a member
9. Objects / D. Essence of Objects / 12. Essential Parts
12884 The same whole ceases to exist if a part is lost
9. Objects / D. Essence of Objects / 13. Nominal Essence
12975 We have a distinct idea of gold, to define it, but not a perfect idea, to understand it
12805 If two people apply a single term to different resemblances, they refer to two different things
12806 Locke needs many instances to show a natural kind, but why not a single instance? [Jolley]
9. Objects / E. Objects over Time / 9. Ship of Theseus
12972 Bodies, like Theseus's ship, are only the same in appearance, and never strictly the same
9. Objects / F. Identity among Objects / 7. Indiscernible Objects
5055 No two things are totally identical
10. Modality / C. Sources of Modality / 5. Modality from Actuality
12978 A perfect idea of an object shows that the object is possible
10. Modality / D. Knowledge of Modality / 1. A Priori Necessary
17079 Proofs of necessity come from the understanding, where they have their source
11. Knowledge Aims / A. Knowledge / 2. Understanding
12998 Understanding grasps the agreements and disagreements of ideas
12960 We understand things when they are distinct, and we can derive necessities from them
11. Knowledge Aims / B. Certain Knowledge / 1. Certainty
13006 Certainty is where practical doubt is insane, or at least blameworthy
11. Knowledge Aims / B. Certain Knowledge / 5. Cogito Critique
12996 I know more than I think, since I know I think A then B then C
13003 The Cogito doesn't prove existence, because 'I am thinking' already includes 'I am'
12. Knowledge Sources / A. A Priori Knowledge / 2. Self-Evidence
21253 Descartes needs to demonstrate how other people can attain his clear and distinct conceptions
12. Knowledge Sources / A. A Priori Knowledge / 3. Innate Knowledge / a. Innate knowledge
12933 Arithmetic and geometry are implicitly innate, awaiting revelation
12991 Children learn language fast, with little instruction and few definitions
12929 All of our thoughts come from within the soul, and not from the senses
12. Knowledge Sources / A. A Priori Knowledge / 3. Innate Knowledge / c. Tabula rasa
12940 What is left of the 'blank page' if you remove the ideas?
12. Knowledge Sources / B. Perception / 2. Qualities in Perception / e. Primary/secondary critique
19358 Colour and pain must express the nature of their stimuli, without exact resemblance
12. Knowledge Sources / B. Perception / 3. Representation
12948 A pain doesn't resemble the movement of a pin, but it resembles the bodily movement pins cause
12. Knowledge Sources / B. Perception / 6. Inference in Perception
13005 Truth arises among sensations from grounding reasons and from regularities
12. Knowledge Sources / C. Rationalism / 1. Rationalism
12947 We only believe in sensible things when reason helps the senses
4302 You may experience a universal truth, but only reason can tell you that it is always true
12930 The senses are confused, and necessities come from distinct intellectual ideas
12. Knowledge Sources / D. Empiricism / 5. Empiricism Critique
13001 Our sensation of green is a confused idea, like objects blurred by movement
13. Knowledge Criteria / D. Scepticism / 1. Scepticism
12949 Light takes time to reach us, so objects we see may now not exist
14. Science / C. Induction / 3. Limits of Induction
5053 The instances confirming a general truth are never enough to establish its necessity
14. Science / D. Explanation / 2. Types of Explanation / k. Explanations by essence
12977 We will only connect our various definitions of gold when we understand it more deeply
15. Nature of Minds / A. Nature of Mind / 7. Animal Minds
5054 Animal thought is a shadow of reasoning, connecting sequences of images by imagination
15. Nature of Minds / B. Features of Minds / 2. Unconscious Mind
12944 It is a serious mistake to think that we are aware of all of our perceptions
15. Nature of Minds / C. Capacities of Minds / 5. Generalisation by mind
12951 Abstraction attends to the general, not the particular, and involves universal truths
15. Nature of Minds / C. Capacities of Minds / 10. Conatus/Striving
19364 Volition automatically endeavours to move towards what it sees as good (and away from bad)
16. Persons / D. Continuity of the Self / 2. Mental Continuity / a. Memory is Self
12942 Memory doesn't make identity; a man who relearned everything would still be the same man
16. Persons / D. Continuity of the Self / 2. Mental Continuity / b. Self as mental continuity
12973 We know our own identity by psychological continuity, even if there are some gaps
16. Persons / F. Free Will / 7. Compatibilism
19368 The will determines action, by what is seen as good, but it does not necessitate it
18. Thought / A. Modes of Thought / 3. Emotions / f. Emotion and reason
12935 Every feeling is the perception of a truth
18. Thought / C. Content / 2. Ideas
12938 An idea is an independent inner object, which expresses the qualities of things
12945 Thoughts correspond to sensations, but ideas are independent of thoughts
12950 We must distinguish images from exact defined ideas
19357 The idea of green seems simple, but it must be compounded of the ideas of blue and yellow
18. Thought / C. Content / 6. Broad Content
12995 The name 'gold' means what we know of gold, and also further facts about it which only others know
12807 The word 'gold' means a hidden constitution known to experts, and not just its appearances
20. Action / B. Preliminaries of Action / 2. Willed Action / a. Will to Act
12946 The idea of the will includes the understanding
21. Aesthetics / A. Aesthetic Experience / 3. Taste
12964 If would be absurd not to disagree with someone's taste if it was a taste for poisons
22. Metaethics / B. Value / 2. Values / g. Love
12958 Love is pleasure in the perfection, well-being or happiness of its object
22. Metaethics / C. The Good / 1. Goodness / b. Types of good
12957 The good is the virtuous, the pleasing, or the useful
22. Metaethics / C. The Good / 3. Pleasure / a. Nature of pleasure
12962 Pleasure is a sense of perfection
23. Ethics / B. Contract Ethics / 2. Golden Rule
12934 We can't want everyone to have more than their share, so a further standard is needed
25. Social Practice / D. Justice / 3. Punishment / a. Right to punish
12936 There are natural rewards and punishments, like illness after over-indulgence
26. Natural Theory / D. Laws of Nature / 8. Scientific Essentialism / a. Scientific essentialism
11856 Qualities should be predictable from the nature of the subject
12994 Gold has a real essence, unknown to us, which produces its properties
12808 Part of our idea of gold is its real essence, which is not known to us in detail
27. Natural Reality / A. Classical Physics / 1. Mechanics / a. Explaining movement
12985 Maybe motion is definable as 'change of place'
27. Natural Reality / C. Space / 5. Relational Space
12952 Space is an order among actual and possible things
27. Natural Reality / D. Time / 1. Nature of Time / e. Eventless time
12955 If there were duration without change, we could never establish its length
28. God / A. Divine Nature / 2. Divine Nature
12954 God's essence is the source of possibilities, and his will the source of existents
28. God / A. Divine Nature / 3. Divine Perfections
12988 The universe contains everything possible for its perfect harmony
1414 A perfection is a simple quality, which is positive and absolute, and has no limit
28. God / A. Divine Nature / 4. Divine Contradictions
21252 Perfections must have overlapping parts if their incompatibility is to be proved
28. God / B. Proving God / 1. Proof of God
19328 Without the principle of sufficient reason, God's existence could not be demonstrated
29. Religion / D. Religious Issues / 2. Immortality / c. Animal Souls
5058 Animals have thought and sensation, and indestructible immaterial souls