All Remarks of "Remarks on Leibniz's New Essays"

General Introduction

• General Introduction

• The fundamental problem of presuppositions

• Natural Language:

• Natural Logic:

• Natural Realism:

• Natural Philosophy and the making of mental models

• Why it makes sense to study Leibniz's New Essays on Human Understanding

• The structure of this text

Editor's Preface

• Leibniz's rationalism and rationalism

• Rationalism in terms of principles of inference

• Whether there is a reason for every fact

• The role of the free will

• The mind as experienced or as what produces experience

• Self and self

• Necessary truths

• Pre-Established Harmony and reality

• Monads

• choice

• Essences and empiricism

• The special status of human beings for human beings

Leibniz's Preface

• A simple kind of necessary truth

• If-then notions and sequences

• The mind and the body

• Leibniz and the unconscious

• Identity and universals and symbolizing what does or cannot exist

• Mechanism, qualia and vitalism

Book 1 chapter 1 Whether there are any innate principles in the mind of man.

• A basic Leibnizian motivation and the ideological fallacy

• The principle of persistence

• First assumptions

• Mental scope

• Human abstractions involve selection and symbolization

• An innate human faculty for symbolizing

• Necessary truths and other kinds of truths

• Necessary truths and (humanly) necessary falsities

• A difficulty about mathematical truths

• The problem of induction

• The faculty of understanding

• The powers of symbolical representation

• The human mind in nature

• Kinds of necessary truth

• On learning innate truths

• Ideas humans may be born with

• Mathematics as innate or acquired

• Innate or necessary knowledge of the human faculties

• Thoughts contrasted with ideas

• On "tendencies" and "dispositions"

   

Book 1 chapter 2 That there are no innate practical principles

• Truths everybody consents to

• The necessities involved in human communication

• The principles of Natural Kinds and Persistence 

• On innate moral principles

• Discovering innate truths and making discoveries

• On doing to others as one would be done unto

• Whether a God is necessary to maintain human morality

• Instincts and human nature

•  On necessary ideas

• A fundamental human problem

• Principles involved in human reasoning

Book 2 chapter 1 In which we discuss ideas in general, and incidentally consider whether the soul of man always thinks

• An outline of the meanings of terms

• The difference between experienced thoughts and the unexperienced ideas that cause them

• Interactions between things and the notion of feedback

• The existence of external objects

• The existence of internal objects

• The notion of representing (corresponding, standing for, designating, symbolizing)

• On faculties

• The mind as an infinite monad

• The structure of the mind

• Confusions about the unconscious mind

• The souls of beasts and the bodies of souls

• Problems of self-identity

• The limits of reflection

Book 2 chapter 2 Of simple ideas

•   What simple ideas might be

Book 2 chapter 4 Of solidity

•  On solidity

Book 2 chapter 5 Of simple ideas of several senses

•  On associating ideas

Book 2 chapter 6 Of simple ideas of reflection

•  On simple ideas of reflection

Book 2 chapter 7 Of ideas of both sensation and reflection

•  More of the association of ideas

Book 2 chapter 8 Some further considerations concerning simple ideas

• On primary and secondary qualities

• Primary and secondary qualities and 17th Century physics

• Truth and primary and secondary qualities

• Intentions and primary and secondary qualities

• A difference between Leibniz and Berkeley concerning 'secondary qualities'

• On primary and secondary qualities

Book 2 chapter 9 Of perception

• On experience and reality

• On consciousness and reality

• Experiences of living things

Book 2 chapter 10 Of retention

•  On memory

Book 2 chapter 11 Of discerning, or the faculty of distinguishing ideas

• Comparing and relating

• The capacities of animals, and signs and symbols

• The abilities of animals

• The abilities of imbecile and insane people

• On what the human mind is like

Book 2 chapter 12 Of complex ideas

• Relations and substances

• Of collections

Book 2 chapter 13 Of simple modes; and first of the simple modes of space

•  Relativity of length

• Galilean relativity and places

• Whether space is extended

• On substances

• On infinity

• On continuity, fluidity and hardness

Book 2 chapter 14 Of duration and its simple modes

• On the passage of time

• On time and space

• On eternity and infitity

Book 2 chapter 15 Of duration and expansion, considered together

• On the source of all possibilities and existents

• On spirit and substance

• On a difference between space and time

Book 2 chapter 16 Of number

• A gemetrical conception of numbers

• On the names of numbers (and numbers as arising from operations with strings)

Book 2 chapter 17 Of infinity

• On whether infinities exist

• On inductive reasoning

• Leibniz on infinitesimals

• Again on whether infinities exist

Book 2 chapter 18 Of other simple modes

•  A disagreement about simplicity and simple things

Book 2 chapter 20 Of modes of pleasure and pain

• Preliminaries on pain and pleasure

• Whether there are experiences of things one is indifferent to

• On the good

• On the origin of the passions

• On love and altruism

• On desire

• On Balaam's ass

• On hope

• Whether the passion are based on beliefs or desires

• Whether the passions are endeavours or tendencies to act

• Whether there may be emotions without a body

• On the definition of shame

• A few more or less systematic remarks on emotion

Book 2 chapter 21 Of power and freedom (Part a)

• Foresight, persistence, powers and dispositions

• More on the concept of powers and on entelechies

• changes, willed changes and powers

• The notion of the will

• The source of actions

• On acting and thinking

• On acting and desiring

• Understanding and perceiving

• On the understanding

• On the notion of faculties

• On the notion of freedom

• Deliberate self-determination and free will

• The vagueries of the term 'necessary'

• On the freedom to think and act

• On thoughts and ideas

• On Freedom:Determination= Animate:Inanimate

• On "inclining without necessitating"

• On the unconscious workings of our minds

• More on "relations that incline without necessitating"

• A free will is not the same as being undetermined

• A formal formulation of the problem of free will

• A problem with Leibniz's and Locke's treatment of free will

• On " whether a man is free when he wills."

• Deliberations and suspensions of actions

Book 2 chapter 21 Of power and freedom (Part b)

• On the need for a non-classical logic for propositional attitudes

• The need for a stop-rule

• On free will as involving that the present makes the future based on the past

• The stop-rule and the halting problem

• On what the will can will

• Some remarks on the semantics of propositional attitudes

• One of the hubs of the problem of free will

• On the ability to revise our beliefs and desires

• Unconscious valuations

• On what moves people to act

• The relation between pain and pleasure

• On the Ovidian predicament

• On human mental blindness

• How to guide one's life

• That as long as there is life there is desire

• Will as a compromise between different valuations

• On the supreme end

• Shortcomings of Locke's empiricism

• Leibniz on happiness and pleasure

• Leibniz on the unconscious

• The core of the free will problem

• Blocking desires one would have acted upon

• On preserving one's mental freedom

• On whether one is ever indifferent

• Inclining without necessity again

• Freedom and reason

• People seek to satisfy their desires rather than seeking happiness

• The problem of false consciousness

• On "De gustibus non disputandum"

• On whether a God is required for morals

• On a confusion that should be avoided

• A Socratic thema

• On mathematical expectation

• An agreement on the free will problem

• On the bad as required for being good

• Probabilities and values

• Abduction as the guide of life

• How people come to make wrong judgements

• On how to think rationally

• Whether happiness can be reached by men

• On the power to act

• Animate and inanimate things

• The role of information

• On spontaneity

• Primary qualities again

• Internal and external reality in experience

• Objects, properties, parts, (in)variance and natural realism

• Existence and reality

Book 2 chapter 22 chapter xxii Of mixed modes

• On modes or divisions of ideas

• On unity and naming

• On powers or abilities

Book 2 chapter 23 chapter xxiii Of our complex ideas of substances

• On substances

• On the uses of substances

• On the idea of substances

• On knowledge and perfect knowledge

• On the reality of colours

• On the reality of the world and the self

Book 2 chapter 24 chapter xxiv Of collective ideas of substances

•  On the concept of a class

Book 2 chapter 25 chapter xxv: Of relation

•  On the concept of relation

Book 2 chapter 26 chapter xxvi Of cause and effect, and other relations.

• On the concept of relations

Book 2 chapter 27 What identity or diversity is

• On the concept of identity

• On a basic point about identity

• On identity, individuation and distinction

• Identity, monads, entelechies and selfs

• On self-identity through time

• On patterns, programs, and processes

• On souls and bodies

• On personal identity

• On whether one's sense of self may deceive one

• On whether men may be self-conscious machines

• On self-identity and memory

• On such certainties as people claim

• On the relation of the body and the soul

Book 2 chapter 28 Of certain other relations, especially moral relation

• On the relativity of morals

• On when ideas are clear

• On ideas and their contents

• On distinguishing rationalism and empiricism

• Philosophy more geometricum

• On concepts and ideas

• On the ideas of the infinite and the eternal

• On the idea of the infinitely small

• Realistic and fantastic ideas

• On reality and existence

• Another difference between empiricism and rationalism

• On what 'exists' means

Book 2 chapter 31 Of complete and incomplete ideas

• On whether the senses deliver all there is to know

• On the correlation of concepts and sensations with ideas

• On adequate, distinct, complete ideas

• Ideas and fantasies

• On real possibilities

• On the ideological fallacy

• On learning in humans and animails

Book 3 chapter 1 Of words or language in general

• On the origin of language

• On general terms

• On negative terms

Book 3 chapter 2 Of the signification of words

• On the arbitrary imposition of words

• A problem for Leibniz's system

• On blind men praising the divine light

• Learning a language by using the imagnation

• On terms for terms and terms for thoughts

Book 3 chapter 3 Of general terms

• On general terms

• Whether only particular things exist

• Identification by kinds

• On space and time

• Individuality and infinity

• On the existence of atoms

• On genera and species (kinds in Scholastic dress)

• On universals, general terms and essences

Book 3 chapter 4 Of the names of simple ideas

• Whether there is an external world

• On simple terms

Book 3 chapter 5 Of the names of mixed modes and relations

• On the relation between ideas and facts

• On the reality of abstract terms

Book 3 chapter 6 Of the name of substances

• Kinds, sorts and essences

• The essences of individuals

• On continuities and discontinuities

• The possible and the conceivable

• On phenomena as realities

• Monsters and natural kinds

• A brief statement of Leibniz's metaphysics

• On the integrity and unity of living things and their experiences

• On the differences between natural kinds

• On substantial facts and definitions

• On human judgments

• On the relativity of kinds

• On souls, machines and entelechies

Book 3 chapter 7 Of the name of substances

• On particles

• On the importance of particles

• On the meanings of particles

• On particles, language and the mind

Book 3 chapter 8 Of abstract and concrete terms

•  On abstract terms

Book 3 chapter 10 Of the abuse of words

• On the abuse of words

• On children's ability to learn language

• That men's errors are due to their lack of logic

• On confusing words and things

• On matter and mind

• On real essences

• On supposedly obvious meanings

• Mechanical life according to savages and sages

Book 3 chapter 11 Of the remedies of the foregoing imperfections and abuses

• On using clearly defined terms

• On other remedies for the abuses of words

• Real essences, once more

• On dictionaries, encyclopeadias and pictures

Book 4 chapter 1 Of knowledge in general

• On what knowledge is

• Knowledge and information

• Ideas and facts

• Knowledge and perception

• Reasoning, knowledge and memory

• Proofs of knowledge

Book 4 chapter 2 Of the degrees of our knowledge

• On ordinary experience and intuition

• On truths of reason and truths of fact

• On negative statements

• A very fundamental problem about making assumptions

• Inferences, identities and contradictions

• On definitions

• On truths of reason

• On truths of fact

• On intuitive truths of fact and Descartes' "Cogito"

Book 4 chapter 3 Of the extent of human knowledge

• On the limitations of knowledge

• On the dualism of matter and mind

• Some clarifications of Leibniz's reasoning

• On whether the soul is immaterial

• Further remarks on mind and matter

• [1] the generic difference between experience and reality:

• [2] the mind as coordinator and unifier:

• [3] our sense of self:

• [4] From mere matter to living experience:

• [5] The explanation of ideas of inconsistent or impossible things:

• On whether human beings may be computers

• On self-consciousness

• [1] The self as theoretical entity :

• [2] The self as (not) given in experience :

• [3] The self as depending on symbolization :

• [4] True and false selves and (self-)consciousness :

• [5] Selves, ends and teleology :

• [6] What builds the builder or programs the program? :

• [7] Pains and pleasures (and qualia in general) :

• On substances, functions and information

• On events at the boundaries and surfaces of things

• On molecules and information

• On thinking and information-processing

• On pains and pleasures as immaterial

• On the certainty of moral judgements and justice

• On the causes of ignorance

Book 4 chapter 4 Of the reality of our knowledge

• Knowledge and truth

• Matter and mind again

• Matter and unities

• A clarification of Leibniz's position

• Whether the soul is not naterial

• On whether matter has parts

• On whet what has parts can be divided

• On whether what can be divided has no true unity

• On whether there are true unities

• On whether our own soul is a true unit

• Arguments in favour of the soul

• [1] the generic difference between experience and reality:

• [2] the mind as coordinator and unifier:

• [3] our sense of self:

• [4] From mere matter to living experience:

• [5] The explanation of ideas of inconsistent or impossible things:

• Some remarks about self-consciousness

• [1] The self as theoretical entity :

• [2] The self as (not) given in experience :

• [3] The self as depending on symbolization :

• [4] True and false selves and (self-)consciousness :

• [5] Selves, ends and teleology :

• [6] What builds the builder or programs the program? :

• [7] Pains and pleasures (and qualia in general) :

• On pains and pleasures as not matterial

• On the certainty of moral judgements

Book 4 chapter 5 Of truth in general

• On Pontius Pilate's question

• On truth and agreement

• A simple descriptive definition of truth

• On being locked up in a language

• On distinguishing truth and reality

• On the distinction between moral and real truths

Book 4 chapter 6 Of universal propositions, their truth and certainty.

• On the kinds of knowledge there are

• On a Universal Symbolism

• On how we can know general truths

• On natural kinds, again

• On whether there are substances (and in what sense)

• On inducing and abducing

• On the relevance of contexts, conditions and circumstances

• On certain knowledge

• On the problem whether and in what sense there are substances

• First step: axioms for attributing

• On distinguishing objects and properties

• On concepts of identity

• Some provable theses about objects and properties

• The concept of characterization

• Consequences for the concept of substance

Book 4 chapter 7 Of maxims or axioms

• On self-evident propositions

• On God and the existence of the external world

• The Cogito, once more

• How the Self differs from other theoretical entities

• On self-knowledge and self-delusion

• On human beings as partially self-created

• On whether the I is innate

• On the rational souls of negroes

Book 4 chapter 8 Of trifling propositions

• On the use of elementary logical truths

• On the value of philosophical books

• On the claim that such and such is merely verbal

Book 4 chapter 9 Of our knowledge of our existence

• On the limits of inductions

• On how people know they exist

• On St. Augustine's argument for knowing one exists

Book 4 chapter 10 Of our knowledge of the existence of God

• On Locke's proof of the existence of God

• On Leibniz's objections to Locke's supposed proof

• On two lines of argument to silence the atheists

• On Leibniz's Anselmian/Cartesian proof of God's existence

• On Leibniz on the Anselmian/Cartesian proof of God's existence

• On Leibniz's criticism of another Cartesian proof of God's existence

• On the unconscious

• Locke on matter and mind again

• Leibniz on matter and mind again

• On everything as perceiving, feeling and desiring

• On Leibniz's Pre-Established Harmony

Book 4 chapter 11 Of our knowledge of the existence of other things

• On knowledge, certainty and sensations

• Locke vs. chuang Tzu

• Whether humans only know probabilities and sensations

• Leibniz on knowledge, certainty and sensations

• Leibniz on dreams and certainty

• Leibniz on doubt

• On the certainty of memory

• Propositions of fact and propositions of reason

Book 4 chapter 12 Of ways of increasing our knowledge

• On maxims as the foundations of all knowledge

• On whether knowledge is derived from general principles

• On the foundation of general principles

• On the validity of general principles

• On images and ideas

• On the possibility of natural science

• On the art of discovery

Book 4 chapter 16 Of ways of increasing our knowledge

• On tolerance

• On assent to guesses

• On Leibniz on probability and its benefits

• On a rule for assigning theoretical probabilities

• On Leibniz about continuity

Book 4 chapter 17 Of reason

• On Locke on the definition of reason

• On Leibniz on the definition of reason

• On Locke about syllogisms

• On Leibniz about syllogisms

• On the logic of discovery

• On the role of universal truths

• On the failures of reason

• On Leibniz on the failures of reason

• On intuition

• On a fundamental principle of reason

• On some logical fallacies

• On what goes beyond reason

Book 4 chapter 19 Of enthusiasm

•  On enthusiasm and unreason

•  On error

•  On dividing the sciences