Leibniz On The Integration Of Empiricism And Rationalism

Leibniz is the representative of the modern Europeanra , whose philosophy system, in terms of the history of rationalism, is the inheritance and development of the philosophy of Descartes and Spinoza.But his thinking is the conscious reflection and summary of Modern Philosophy ideas. This reflection and summary, on the one hand, is based on the theories of the former rationalists; on the other hand, lays the basis on Empiricism, especially on the views differed Lockerbie. This reflects that the philosophy of Leibniz reconciles Empiricism and idealism, the tendency to experience.The first part elaborated the concrete manifestation about Leibniz′s combination between the Empiricism and rationalism. Firstly, one hand ,on the understanding object, Leibniz thought that the entity is psychic " monad "; on the other hand,he also does not denied the Material Existence.Secondly,on the the origins of the concept, Leibniz amended Descartes′"the theory of innate idea"through absorbing the Empiricism .Thirdly,on the thought of truth , Leibniz recognized two kind truths --"necessary truth "and "truth of fact".The paper discussed the manifestation about Leibniz′s combination between the Empiricism and rationalism from the understanding object, the origins of the concept and the reliability of cognition. The second part is an analysis of the three-level reasons of his integration of empiricism and rationalism. First, in terms of the evolution of Leibniz's philosophical system, the formation of his philosophical system, i.e. the monadism, is a tortuous and complicated process. He has been deeply influenced by the Scholasticism; later he is attracted by mechanical materialism. After being aware of the weaknesses and flaws in the mechanical materialism, he inherited the theories of Descartes and Spinoza as the representative of rationalism; moreover, as the only representative of the late theory, in the course of the debate with empiricist John Locke, he has absorbed from the rationalism the factors which are helpful to his system and consciously made some adjustment on some thoughts of rationalism. Therefore, it is natural that his philosophy is to show a tendency of compromise and integration.The second level probes into the development of the rationalism. In the debate on the rationalism and empiricism, certain deficiency of empiricism has indeed been exposed, but under the attack of empiricism, rationalism itself exposed a number of defects, particularly on the key issues of the concept of God and the relationship between body and mind, it can not be justified. Thus, it is imperative that some adjustment will be made on rationalism.The third level says from the empiricism with rationalism the fusion historical origin. From the history of philosophy, the importance of empiricism and rationalism, there have been two trends of thought. Consequently, the confrontation with the coexistence of two trends of the two tendencies have consciously or unconsciously integration. The third level is to find the history of philosophy from the ideological origins of Leibniz fusion I think that Leibniz was mainly influenced by the rationalism of Plato's Cave.The third part stresses the effects and enlightenment of Leibniz integration of empiricism and rationalism for the future generations. In terms of effects, this philosophical system has enormous impact on German classical philosophy and modern philosophy. This paper mainly emphasizes the impact of Leibniz on Kant; meanwhile, its referential significance to Marxist philosophy and its influence on modern philosophers such as Chomsky has been discussed. Leibniz integration of empiricism and rationalism has given us valuable insights: in the study of philosophical history, it is inexpedient to make a rigid either-or division to diametrically oppose different schools of philosophy or ideology to each other; instead, their opposition to reunification should be treated in conjunction. The study of the ideas of a philosopher should not be simplified to restrict the ideology of a philosopher with a preconceived framework, heedless of other valuable elements in his ideology, which can lead to distortion on the philosopher and hence hinder better inheritance of the great thinker's spiritual legacy.