Mr. LEIBNITZS Fifth Paper.
to the Soul. Thoſe Cartesians ſaw the
Difficulty; but they could not explain it.
They had recourſe to a Concourse of God,
which would really be miraculous. But, I
think, I have given the true Solution of
that Ænigma.
85. To ſay that God perceives what paſses ¬
in the World, because he is present to the
Things, and not by a continual Production
of them; is saying something unintelligible.
A mere Presence or Proximity of Co-existence, -
is not sufficient to make us understand, ¬
how that which passes in One Being,
ſhould anſwer to what paſſes in another.
86. Besides; This is exactly falling into
That Opinion, which makes God to be the
Soul of the World; seeing it supposes God
to perceive Things, not by their dependence ¬
upon him, that is, by a continual
Production of what is good and perfect in
them; but by a Kind of Perception, such
as that by which Men fancy Our Soul
perceives what passes in the Body. This
is a degrading of God’s Knowledge very
much.
87. In Truth and Reality, this way of
Perception is wholly Chimerical, and has
no place even in Human Souls. They
perceive what passes without them, by
what paſſes within them, anſwering to the
Things
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