Spinoza & Leibniz - Bryan Magee & Anthony Quinton (1987)

Bryan Magee and Anthony Quinton discuss the 17th-18th century philosophers Spinoza and Leibniz. Both were rationalists who developed elaborate philosophical systems out of only a few basic principles of reason, but ended up with quite different views. Spinoza was a monist and pantheist. He identified everything with one substance, what he called "God or Nature", and understood everything as a mere aspect or mode of this great unity of existence. Thus, there is ultimately only one true entity or being for Spinoza. He rejected any personal conception of God, as well as free will and purpose within nature, leading many to think of him as an atheist. Leibniz, on the other hand, embraced plurality in his system. He posited an infinite array of indivisible substances that he called "monads" which were immaterial, incorporeal, mind-like points or atoms. These were taken to be fundamental, making Leibniz something of a panpsychist or an idealist. The existence of matter was taken to be derivative, a mere appearance of something ultimately mental or quasi-mental in nature. Like Spinoza, he was also a determinist who thought everything had to have a complete explanation, leaving no genuine room for objective randomness or chance. And he also agreed with Spinoza that there were innate ideas and knowledge which we possessed prior to any sensory experience of the world. Both thinkers went on to have a huge influence on other philosophers, as well as on many important scientists. (My Summary)

This is from a 1987 program. Note, the audio has been significantly improved.

More Bryan Magee interviews from this series: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhP9EhPApKE8B-g03RivIMt7llh1cyEGV

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