"But when a monad has organs that are adjusted in such a way that, through them, there is contrast and distinction among the impressions they receive, and consequently contrast and distinction in the perceptions that represent them [in the monads] (as, for example, when the rays of light are concentrated and act with greater force because of the shape of the eye's humors), then this may amount to sensation, that is, to a perception accompanied by memory--a perception of which there remains an echo long anough to make itself heard on occasion."
— Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm (1646-1716)
Date
1714
Metaphor
"But when a monad has organs that are adjusted in such a way that, through them, there is contrast and distinction among the impressions they receive, and consequently contrast and distinction in the perceptions that represent them [in the monads] (as, for example, when the rays of light are concentrated and act with greater force because of the shape of the eye's humors), then this may amount to sensation, that is, to a perception accompanied by memory--a perception of which there remains an echo long anough to make itself heard on occasion."
Metaphor in Context
4. Each monad, together with a particular body, makes up a living substance. Thus, there is not only life everywhere, joined to limbs or organs, but there are also infinite degrees of life in monads, some dominating more or less over others. But when a monad has organs that are adjusted in such a way that, through them, there is contrast and distinction among the impressions they receive, and consequently contrast and distinction in the perceptions that represent them [in the monads] (as, for example, when the rays of light are concentrated and act with greater force because of the shape of the eye's humors), then this may amount to sensation, that is, to a perception accompanied by memory--a perception of which there remains an echo long anough to make itself heard on occasion. Such a living thing is called an animal, as its monad is called a soul. And when this soul is raised to the level of reason, it is something more sublime, and it is counted among the minds, as I will soon explain.
(p. 208)
(p. 208)
Categories
Provenance
Reading
Citation
Leibniz, G. W. Philosophical Essays. Ed. and Trans. Roger Ariew and Daniel Garber. Indianapolis and Cambridge: Hackett Publishing Co., 1989.
Date of Entry
06/27/2007
Date of Review
06/27/2007
