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Man the Monad is set in order by the Supreme Monad, and runs harmoniously with the rest of the universe through a predetermined principle ; his action, attuned to the movement of the All, can not be called his own, and hence cannot be called moral in the customary sense, being adjusted primordially by and in a Pre-established Har- monv. Such a Monad can hardly have Duty and Responsibility in the matter of conduct, which predicates are the basic ones for morality. Still he will not fail to employ these predicates. Of these difficulties Leibniz himself is more or less aware. Hence we may observe, when he enters the ethical sphere in his writings, he begins to shift, to tack about, and to re-adjust his metaphysical sphere, in which he gave the pure derivation and" conception of the Monad. prev next |