Thursday, June 14, 2012

Monad and Microcosmos

Leibniz' distinction between petites and conscious perception implies the existence of a threshold, one which Deleuze attempts to explain in terms of an application of one of Leibniz' other main innovations, i. e. as a differential.  However, the distinction between unclear and clear in the use of a microscope is one of degree, i. e. degree of magnification, not of kind.  So, if there is any actual threshold in perception, on Leibniz' model, it is the subject of perception itself, i. e. petites and conscious perceptions are all equally 'in' the Monad, or as Jaspers terms it, are encompassed by the Monad.  Now, what is in the Monad is, according to Leibniz, nothing but a reflection of the entire environing universe.  Thus, the Monad can be conceived as constituted by a microcosmos of progressively, and indefinitely, smaller events, including petites and conscious perceptions, alike.

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