Observations placeholder
Leibniz - World soul
Identifier
020569
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
A description of the experience
[M]inds are images of the divinity itself, or the author of nature. . . . That is what makes minds capable of entering into a kind of society with God, and allows him to be, in relation to them, not only what an inventor is to his machine (as God is in relation to the other creatures) but also what a prince is to his subjects, and even what a father is to his children. From this it is easy to conclude that the collection of all minds must make up the city of God, that is, the most perfect possible state under the most perfect of monarchs. This city of God, this truly universal monarchy, is a moral world within the natural world, and the highest and most divine of God's works. . . . [U]nder this perfect government, there will be no good action that is unrewarded, no bad action that goes unpunished, and everything must result in the well-being of the good, that is, of those who are not dissatisfied in this great state, those who trust in providence, after having done their duty, and who love and imitate the author of all good (Monadology $$83, 84, 85, 87, 90; GP YI: 621-2lAG 223-4).