"Waterhouse: "Now, if you--the ingenious Dr. Leibniz--contrive a machine that gives the impression of thinking--is that really thinking, or merely reflecting your genius?" Leibniz: "You could as well have asked: are we thinking? Or merely reflecting God's genius?" Waterhouse: "If we are mere mechanisms, obeying rules laid down by God, then all of our actions are predestined, and we are not really thinking." Leibniz: "This is one of the two great labryrinths into which human minds are drawn: the question of free will versus predestination. You were raised to believe in the latter. You have rejected it--which must have been a great spiritual struggle--and become a thinker. You have adopted a modern, mechanical philosophy. But that philosophy now seems to be leading you back towards predestination.""
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
excerpted, "Daniel and Leibniz Discourse (1)"
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Baroque_Cycle
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
The Baroque Cycle
146 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by The Baroque Cycle ā
Related Quotes
"āSir, my admiration for your work is mingled with wonder that a man of your age and dignity is out doing things like ā¦"
"āSergeant Shaftoe,ā said the old man, āI do pity the Grim Reaper on the day that he shall finally come for you in earā¦"
"There is nothing quite so civilized as to be recognized in public places as the author of books no one has read."
""Why does the tide rush out to the sea?" "The influence of the sun and the moon." "Yet you and I cannot see the sun oā¦"
"āWhen you smoke your pipe, you feel an initial rush of stimulation, followed by a calmness, a steadying of the nervesā¦"
"āThank you, guvānor,ā the brewer said to the old man... āBut I couldnāt possibly.ā And he tossed the coin backā¦ āIf iā¦"
"āI spied āem again this morning, Tomba! ā¦I looked to the West and saw āem, all lit up by the red sun shining in off tā¦"
"āBecause though I have not done violence I have seen rather a lot of it. Not all of the men who employ it are stupid,ā¦"
"Condemn an Englishman to hell, and he'd plant a bed of petunias and roll out a nice bowling-green on the brimstone."
"Comstock permitted himself a dry chuckle. āYou are a man of many words but few specifics. Youād do well in Parliamentā¦"