6b. Leibniz, could you explain your “veined block of marble” analogy to me? How is our mind like a veined block of marble? What do you mean? What are some of the examples of veins in our minds?
Compare a blank piece of marble to one that is veined. If I showed you the one without veins and asked you to depict a certain shape out of this piece of marble, it would not be so easy. For example, “If the soul were like an empty page, then truths would be in us in the same way that the shape of Hercules is in an uncarved piece of marble that is entirely neutral as to whether it takes Hercules’ shape or some other” (New essay, 41). The blank piece explains that everything we know is based off what we see, and is specifically based off experience …show more content…
Leibniz, why do you think that this is the best of all possible worlds? Why did God choose to create this world, and not some other?
In my eyes and in many others who have the same beliefs as me would agree that this is the best of all possible worlds. The reason for our worlds existence is all based off “the fitness, or degree of perfection” when being created by God (Monadology, 54). Each possible world created by God has its own degree of perfection, and this since of perfection is what makes the world we live in possible. As “God knows through his wisdom, chooses through his goodness, and produces through his power” to create a world where all things that reflect each other create a perfect world (Monadology, 55). The whole idea of a perfect world is like “the same town looked at from different sides appears completely different, and as if multiplied in perspective, so through infinite multitude of simple substances, it is as if there were so many different universe, which nevertheless are only perspectives on a single universe” (Monadology, 57). When it comes down to the jiff of things, I believe that only God knows what is perfect. He created this world based off the reflections of another and continued this process until all things that existed reflect each other creating a perfect
Compare a blank piece of marble to one that is veined. If I showed you the one without veins and asked you to depict a certain shape out of this piece of marble, it would not be so easy. For example, “If the soul were like an empty page, then truths would be in us in the same way that the shape of Hercules is in an uncarved piece of marble that is entirely neutral as to whether it takes Hercules’ shape or some other” (New essay, 41). The blank piece explains that everything we know is based off what we see, and is specifically based off experience …show more content…
Leibniz, why do you think that this is the best of all possible worlds? Why did God choose to create this world, and not some other?
In my eyes and in many others who have the same beliefs as me would agree that this is the best of all possible worlds. The reason for our worlds existence is all based off “the fitness, or degree of perfection” when being created by God (Monadology, 54). Each possible world created by God has its own degree of perfection, and this since of perfection is what makes the world we live in possible. As “God knows through his wisdom, chooses through his goodness, and produces through his power” to create a world where all things that reflect each other create a perfect world (Monadology, 55). The whole idea of a perfect world is like “the same town looked at from different sides appears completely different, and as if multiplied in perspective, so through infinite multitude of simple substances, it is as if there were so many different universe, which nevertheless are only perspectives on a single universe” (Monadology, 57). When it comes down to the jiff of things, I believe that only God knows what is perfect. He created this world based off the reflections of another and continued this process until all things that existed reflect each other creating a perfect