Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm (1646-1716)

German philosopher, mathematician, historian, jurist, and physicist.  Against any monistic view of the universe, he characterized ultimate reality as composed of an infinite number of simple, indivisible, immaterial substances, i.e., spiritual atoms, or “monads,” created and maintained by the existence of the Prime Monad, i.e., God.  Monads are also self-determining substances which together comprise God’s “best possible world,” wherein material substances do indeed have their own realities, although they are dependent finally upon monads existing in a “pre-established harmony” that allows order and causal relationships to occur.

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Contributed by: Marty Maddox/CTNS