PART III. 



DETAILED STATEMENT OF THE PHILOSOPHY OF LEIBNIZ. 



PASSING from the general consideration of the doctrines 

 of Leibniz, we now come to their more specific develop- 

 ment. We shall, in the first place, examine the relation 

 between his philosophical principles and the ruling con- 

 ceptions of his Mathematics, and we shall aftenvards 

 endeavour to trace the principles of the Monadology in 

 the various departments of knowledge which are con- 

 cerned with Matter, with Organism, and with Self- 

 consciousness. This review of human knowledge, pro- 

 ceeding from the most abstract or simple to the most 

 concrete or complex of the sciences 1 , will reveal to us 

 the interpretation which Leibniz's conception of Sub- 

 stance requires us to give to the judgments of common 

 consciousness. From another point of view, we may 

 consider ourselves as inquiring : * What are the answers 

 which Leibniz would make to objections against his 

 system, based upon facts, hypotheses, or common beliefs 

 in mathematical and physical, biological and mental 

 science ? ' 



A. LEIBNIZ'S MATHEMATICS IN RELATION TO HIS 



PHILOSOPHY. 



It was partly through Mathematics that Leibniz 

 arrived at the notion of Substance which is the core of 

 his philosophy. Dissatisfaction with the Mathematics 

 of Descartes and with its consequences in Physics led 

 him to reject the Cartesian theory of matter and motion 



1 The consideration of Leibniz's Theology or Philosophy of Reli- 

 gion is beyond the scope of the present volume. 



