Dialectical Spiritualism: Gottfried von Leibnitz, Part 2

BY: SUN STAFF - 17.2 2017

Conversations wtih HDG A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, excerpted from  Dialectical Spiritualism: A Vedic View of Western Philosophy.

V – RATIONALISM 
Gottfried von Leibnitz (1646 - 1716)

Syamasundara dasa: Leibnitz agrees that the mechanics of nature serve to fulfill God's purposes.

Srila Prabhupada: Yes, that's it. All the laws of nature are working under Krsna's direction.

mayadhyaksena prakrtih 
suyate sa-caracaram 
hetunanena kaunteya 
jagad viparivartate

'This material nature is working under My direction, 0 son of Kunti, and it is producing all moving and unmoving beings. By its rule this manifestation is created and annihilated again and again." {Bg. 9.10) Material nature is the goddess Durga. It is she who is the superintendent of the fort. Material nature is like a fort which no one can leave. Durga is the confidential maidservant of Krsna, but she has a very thankless task of punishing the demoniac living entities, who are thinking, "I will worship my mother Durga," not knowing that her engagement is punishment. She is not an ordinary mother. She gives the demonic living entity whatever he wants. "Give me money. Give me a good wife. Give me reputation. Give me strength." Goddess Durga says, "All right, take these things, but at the same time you will be frustrated with them." On the one hand, the living entity is given whatever he wants, and on the other there is frustration and punishment. This is nature's law, and nature is functioning under the instructions of Krsna. The living entity in the material world has revolted against Krsna. He wants to imitate Krsna and become the enjoyer; therefore Krsna gives him all the resources of material enjoyment, but at the same time He punishes him. The goddess Durga is so powerful that she can create, maintain, and dissolve, but she is working just like a shadow. A shadow does not move independently. The movement is coming from Krsna. A fool thinks that material nature is there for his enjoyment. This is the materialistic view. When he sees a flower, he thinks, "Nature has produced this flower for me. Everything is for me." In the Bible, it is stated that animals are placed under the dominion or protection of men, but men mistakenly think, "They are given to us to kill and eat." If I entrust you to someone, is it proper that he eat you? What kind of intelligence is this? This is all due to a lack of Krsna consciousness.

Syamasundara dasa: Leibnitz believed that truth could be represented by an exact, mathematical science of symbols, which could form a universal language, a linguistic calculus. He believed in a rational world and an empirical world, and that each stood opposed to the other. He felt that each had its own truth, which applied to itself, and that each had to be understood according to its own logic. Thus for Leibnitz, there are two kinds of truth. One is the truth of reason, which is a priori. This is innate knowledge which we have prior to and independent of our experience in the material world. The other truth is a posteriori, which is knowledge acquired from experience. This is accidental knowledge in the sense that it is not necessary.

Srila Prabhupada: The real truth is that God has a plan, and one has to be taught that plan by one who knows it. This is explained in Caitanya-caritamrta:

nitya-siddha krsna- prema 'sadhya kabhu naya 
sravanadi-suddha-citte karaye udaya

"Pure love for Krsna is eternally established in the hearts of living entities. It is not something to be gained from another source. When the heart is purified by hearing and chanting, the living entity naturally awakens." (Caitanya-caritamrta , Madh. 22.107) The truth is there, but we have forgotten it. Through the process of chanting and hearing, we can revive the truth, which is that we are eternal servants of Krsna. The living entity is good by nature because he is part and parcel of the supreme good, but due to material association, he has become conditioned. Now we have to again draw forth this goodness through the process of Krsna consciousness.

Syamasundara dasa: As an innate, or a priori truth, Leibnitz gives the example of a triangle: three angles of a triangle must always equal two right angles. This is a truth of reason which is necessarily permanent. The other type of truth is gathered by experience and is called accidental, or unnecessary. For example, we see that snow is white, but it is also possible that snow may be red.

Srila Prabhupada: It is also experienced that the three angles of a triangle must always equal two right angles.

Syamasundara dasa: But this truth exists independently.

Srila Prabhupada: How is that? Not everyone knows how a triangle is formed. Only when you study geometry do you understand. You cannot ask any child or any man who has no knowledge of geometry.

Syamasundara dasa: Whether the man knows it or not, this truth exists.

Srila Prabhupada: But truth by definition exists. It is not this truth or that truth. You may know it or not, but truth exists. So why is he using this particular example?

Syamasundara dasa: Because there is also another kind of truth, which may say that snow is white, but that truth is not absolute because snow could conceivably be red. However, a triangle must always have certain innate properties. That is a necessary truth.

Srila Prabhupada: Any mathematical calculation is like that. Why use this example? Two plus two equals four. That is always the truth according to mathematical principles.

Syamasundara dasa: Leibnitz was trying to prove that there are certain truths that we cannot deny, that exist independent of our knowledge, and that are fundamental. There are other truths, like snow is white, which may or may not be true because our senses deceive us.

Srila Prabhupada: But that is due to our defective senses. It is a fact that snow is white. Now why should it be red? In any case, we have no experience of red snow. Pure snow is white by nature. It may assume another color due to contact with something else, but actually it is white. It is an innate truth that the three angles of a triangle must always equal two right angles, and it is also an innate truth that snow is white, that water is liquid, that stone is hard, and that sugar is sweet. These are fundamental truths that cannot be changed. Similarly, the living entity is the eternal servant of God, and that is his natural position. Water may become hard due to temperature changes, but as soon as the temperature rises, the water again turns into a liquid. Thus the liquidity of water is the truth, the constitutional position of water, because water by definition is a liquid. Similarly, the whiteness of snow is truth, and the servitude of the living entity is truth. In the conditional world, the living entity serves maya, and that is not truth. We cannot consider that there are two types of truth. Truth is one. What we take to be not truth is maya. There cannot be two truths. Maya has no existence, but it appears to be true or factual due to our imperfect senses. A shadow has no existence, but it resembles whatever projects it. In the mirror, you may see your face in exactly the same way that it exists, but that is not truth. The truth is one, and there cannot be two. What is taken for truth at the present moment is called maya.