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Source: Sämtliche schriften und briefe series VI volume 4 Deutsche Akademie der Wissenschaften (ed) pp 1351-1352 Date: 1677? Translated from the Latin View this translation in PDF format (72k) Back to home page Search texts by keyword(s): (For search strings, just type the words; don't use quotation marks) |
LEIBNIZ: ON THE NECESSITY OF CHOOSING THE BEST[A VI 4, 1351] Suppose three points are given in order to form a triangle: I say that a wise person (if there is no special reason for doing otherwise) will form an equilateral triangle, for in this way all the points are treated in the same way. And the species of equilateral triangles is the lowest, [A VI 4, 1352] that is, all equilateral triangles are similar to each other. If the wise person's necessity of choosing the best destroyed freedom, it would follow that God does not act freely either when out of many things he chooses the best. The essences of things are like numbers. Just as two numbers are not equal to each other, so two essences are not equally perfect. © Lloyd Strickland 2004. Revised 2022 |