Remaking America by George Shollenberger, Idea XXXIII (The science of Gottfried Leibniz, Part XII)

On page 115 of G. H. R. Parkinson’s book on ‘Leibniz: Philosophical Writings,’ one learns that before Leibniz found his New System, he was enslaved to Aristotle’s logic and was charmed with the beautiful way of explaining nature mechanically. However, after he sought the actual principles of mechanics, he concluded that an ‘extended mass’ is not enough and that use must be made of the notion of ‘force,’ which is fully intelligible but falls in the sphere of metaphysics. At the same time, he concluded that the lower animals are not mere machines.

Thus, as the 17th century was coming to an end, Leibniz was rejecting the following thoughts of man: (1) Newton’s universe, which would not be rejected until 1905 by Einstein; (2) the theory of evolution that would be developed by Charles Darwin; (3) today’s theory of U.S. physicists, who say that God does not exist; (4) today’s thoughts of U.S. logicians, who say that all human behavior is purely logical and who say that my 2006 book is junk because it is filled with non sequiturs.

With these rejections, Leibniz limits our mental use of logical reasoning, that is, the law of contradiction. Then, he tells us about a new way of thinking. To explain it he develops a new method of reasoning called ’sufficient reason.’ This method of reasoning allows man to understand God as well as developing knowledge of the universe’s things and their purposes. He sought this new way of thinking because the principle of true unity of the universe will never be found with matter alone.

If Leibniz was living today, he would tell U.S. scientists that they are on the wrong path of thought. This wrongness should help government explain the radical rises and falls of the U.S. economic system.