Leibniz's Mental Mill - Essay Example

Instruction: Task: Leibnizs Mental Mill Philosophy is an important discipline especially in the comprehension of life and the nature of things. Therefore, this calls for various philosophers to make explanations to phenomena such as religion, life, politics and even psychology. Similarly, it is imperative to understand the principles and ideologies that form the body of philosophy and those that explain the mental processes of human being. In other words, there is the need to assess the relation between the thinking of a human being to his/her immediate actions (Umphrey 56). This is what led famous philosophers such as Leibniz, Moore and Hume among other notable researchers to formulate theories of analyzing the functioning of the human brain. For example, Leibniz came with the Mental Mill analogy that says that all actions are controlled by the mind. On the other hand, Moore refuted the claims by stating that the use of common sense was both inherent and logical in helping humanity to make decisions. According to Gottfried Leibniz’s Mental Mill, physical processes do not give assessment of the thinking process of human beings. Instead, there is an existence of mystery of the workings of the brain that led him to equate it to a person entering a machine. Therefore, in terms of personal identity and freedom versus determinism, there are interesting issues to note. For example, all human beings have the right to control their thought processes through the way parts of machine operate. Similarly, it is an innate ability of the mind to function like a mental mill in terms of pushing and moving one another to operation (Umphrey 59). The mental mill analogy by Leibniz also helps individuals in dissociating the materialistic thinking. In other words, there is no physicality of thinking with personal identity hence making the understanding of the human mind complex. This influences the individual perception of situations in the development of personal identity. However, it is essential to note that the perception theory also manipulates freedom and determinism of a person. For example, in the Mental Mill scenario, it is upon a person to extract freedom of perception for an element of determinism (Umphrey 35). This is through realization that determinism occurs because of some past event. In the same prospect, the Mental Mill theory asserts that the freedom of personal identity arises from a pre-determined reality of existence. It also affirms the belief of personal conscience that the mind works according to a pre-existent process in the same way as a machine. Therefore, because of Leibniz Mental Mill theory, several philosophers emerged with varying reactions in the formulation of their thoughts. For example, G. E. Moore in his book Defense of Common Sense emphasize that the human being must have the control of some external influence in order to function efficiently “…empiricism represents a giant leap forward in human thought (Umphrey 44).” He also refutes the notions proposed by Leibniz by stating that there is absolute certainty in all our beliefs. Alternatively, Moore proposed the theory of truism where he states that everything is guided by common sense instead of a Mental Mill being in control. Another philosopher who had interesting views on Leibniz’s proposition was Bertrand Russell. The British born scholar argued that there was freedom of thought for every individual and things such as attachment to physicality or mentality of thought did not exist. However, his impression of Gottfried Leibniz led to his discovery of analytic philosophy. Therefore, unlike his mentor and role model, Russell majored in the field of metaphysics to explain the functions and operations of human being. Analytic philosophy also explained its concepts using both in language analysis and formal logic. In that case, there are similar elements that also influenced another philosopher who reacted to the works and research of Leibniz. For example, Gottlob Frege used logical positivism in understanding the rational clarification of truths to establish a common stand. On that note, he also incorporated fundamental investigation of reasoning where there is an evaluation of principles based on tested constructs. This meant there was a continuity of inquiries in terms of freedoms and determinism explained by Leibniz in the Mental Mill analogy. In contrast, there was also Ludwig Wittgenstein who subscribed to the philosophy of foundationalism. Ludwig argued that there are underlying reasons and principles behind most things in the world “…concept of time is inconsistent and therefore cannot be exemplified in reality (Umphrey 46).” This could happen either consciously or unconsciously especially in the formulation of thought to understand external forces. Additionally, there is an element of understanding the logical system of the social constructs of humanity in relation to the use of language during clarification. However, this philosophy is in contrast to the proposition held be Gottfried Leibniz that the mental processes are influenced by deterministic forces. Therefore, there are several merits of the above philosophies advanced by Leibniz, Moore, Gottlob and Ludwig. For example, they help people in the clarification of their deep-seated beliefs especially in answering the questions of life. This has the benefit of enhancing their thinking concerning controversial questions about life. Therefore, these issues raised by the authors’ philosophical study assist in the formulation of critical assessments. Furthermore, the issues help institutions of society such as in law and government whereby the mental arguments of the offender are paramount during the trials. The issues raised by the philosophers’ aid in the comprehension of religion especially in these days of doubts in God. For example, the Mental Mill analogy by Leibniz is fundamental in identifying the personal identity of an individual in the context of selecting his/her beliefs. This is in the form of recognizing the enshrined freedoms of thought and choice including the theory of determinism (Umphrey 67). On the other hand, it assists in the establishment of stronger democracies and economic systems when using the philosophies of Gottlob and Ludwig. This is in terms of the ideas of logical clarification of truths that may have a background on past injustices. In other words, there is a chance to distinguish between actions and things in forming the framework of a philosophical inquiry. In the same breadth, the ideas of metaphysics helps in understand how theories such as idealism, mechanism, materialism and teleology affect humanity. Therefore, materialism theory that insists that real existence is only found in matter and phenomena such as thoughts and feelings are generated by the activity of an occurrence. This suggests that while people apply thoughts and feelings in understanding different scenarios of life, there is the attachment to existence that influences human beings. Additionally, there is idealism that holds that ideas bind every material thing hence the most critical phenomena is the mental part (Umphrey 71). This is what Leibniz espoused in his Mental Mill theory by noting that the working the brain through various mental processes help in decision-making skills. In contrast, there is also the mechanism theory that has its origin in foundationalism by Ludwig Wittgenstein and it attests that mechanical forces influence things. This is different from elements of purpose or a sense of universal background as noted by the theory of teleology. On that perspective, it is crucial to continue studying various theories advanced by both the old and modern philosophers to make the understanding of humanity clear. Additionally, there should be a clear distinction between the elements of philosophy and their applicability in life. This is in the form of conducting logical and rational comparisons between various theories for synthesis and evaluation (Umphrey 52). It would help in solving modern day problems that are mostly caused because of wrong decisions. Work Cited Umphrey, Stewart. Complexity and Analysis. Belmont, MA: Lexington Books. 2002. Print. Read More