Characteristica Universalis Research Articles

Project: “Homo - characteristica universalis” vs. project “Homo - characteristica particularis”. Our peaceful - non-peaceful time: in the genre of “non-fairy tale”

Project: “Homo - characteristica universalis” vs. project “Homo - characteristica particularis”. Our peaceful - non-peaceful time: in the genre of “non-fairy tale”

Impact of the idea of simple universal language for description of the world and “calculation of thinking” upon emergence of the project of Internet

The subject of this research is the idea of simple universal language for description of the world in its relation to the so-called calculative thinking. The idea of simple universal language became one of the core philosophical ideas that led to the emergence of the project of Internet. Most remarkable incarnation of the idea became the Characteristica universalis of Leibniz, intended as a project for clarification of the precise names of things in existence. Development of the project led Leibniz to the work with binary calculation, which is imparted with ontological meaning within the framework of correspondence of the philosopher with the missionary in China – Father Bouvet. The article analyzes the critical perspective upon Leibniz's philosophy as the representative of the new European calculative thinking. Research methodology is based on the correspondence of Leibniz and Father Bouvet, as well as retrospective analysis of evolution of the idea of universal language. The main conclusion consists in the thought that the idea of creation of simple universal language for describing the world through the number of historical interactions strongly affected origination of the Internet. Leibniz brings under deliberation the binary system of calculation, which he considers ontological and reflects the divine harmony of the world. The article also examines the criticism towards calculative new European thinking, formulating a conclusion that the attempt to replace reasoning with calculations and formalization does not always mean leveling things in existence to the state of objects, but rather represents one of the core vectors of thinking of the European man, and is associated with the ideas on the “great chain of existence”, completeness and continuity of all in the world.

G.W. Leibniz: Sign and the Problem of Expression

The disciplinary differentiation of sciences attracted Leibniz’s attention for a long period of time. From nowadays prospects it looks very well grounded as soon as in Leibniz’s manuscripts a modern scholar finds clue ideas of any research field which would tempt him to consider Leibniz as one of the founders of this particular discipline. We argue that this is possible only in retrospection and would significantly distort the essence of Leibniz’s epistemology. Our approach implies, in contrary, the investigation of the Leibniz doctrine of signs on the background of the related philosophical problem, that of expression. The choice of semiotics is justified by the fact that it took a central place in his theoretical constructions, both those of natural sciences and of philosophy. In Leibniz system of knowledge the concept of notes (notae) and sings (signa) served a theoretical foundation of his most important and long-life aspiration to build up practical science of universal characteristics (characteristica universalis). In his eyes this practical science was the science of sciences (Scientia scientiarum), and we can consider it as the matrix for all possible scientific knowledge.

Computer-Assisted Analysis of the Anderson–Hájek Ontological Controversy

A universal reasoning approach based on shallow semantical embeddings of higher-order modal logics into classical higher-order logic is exemplarily employed to analyze several modern variants of the ontological argument on the computer. Several novel findings are reported which contribute to the clarification of a long-standing dispute between Anderson and Hajek. The technology employed in this work, which to some degree realizes Leibniz’s dream of a characteristica universalis and a calculus ratiocinator for solving philosophical controversies, is ready to be fruitfully adopted in larger scale by philosophers.

Russell’s Personal Shorthand

russell: the Journal of Bertrand Russell Studies n.s. 35 (summer 2015): 66–70 The Bertrand Russell Research Centre, McMaster U. issn 0036–01631; online 1913–8032 c:\users\arlene\documents\rj issues\type3501\rj 3501 061 red.docx 2015-07-10 4:07 PM qextual ptudies RUSSELL’S PERSONAL SHORTHAND Kenneth Blackwell blackwk@mcmaster.ca he use of a personal shorthand, including systematic abbreviations, is found in Russell’s extensive, unpublished notes on lectures he attended in 1893–98, notes on such philosophers as Lotze, Leibniz, Frege and Meinong, and outlines for writings at any age.While special shorthand symbols are few, abbreviations are extensive and managed with raised letters, apostrophes and periods.The system is not always consistent, with some terms having a variety of forms. Context is crucial. His note-taking at lectures required speed and a flexible vocabulary, and he (and we) could easily generate new abbreviations and vary old ones on the fly. Acronyms are few although they include G. A., D. V. and B. V. M. His historical antecedents are unknown, but he had honed his use of a code in the “Greek Exercises” with Greek letters and vocabulary. To abbreviate a singular term, under a single final letter that he superscripted , he would place a dot (or very abbreviated line), but would underline more than one raised letter. Since that is what is seen in the manuscripts, the distinction is followed here with the shorthand coming first to aid consultation . Less extensive lists appeared in Papers 1–6, without the dot or underlining of superscripted letters, and ordered by the expansions. An alternative way to expand Russell’s shorthand is to italicize the expansion. E.g., “accṇ” would become “acceleration”. This approach would have the virtue of searchability, which the use of brackets (“acc[eleratio]n”) lacks. Russell’s shorthand enabled him to write easily understood, literate notes and outlines, and he used the system into old age. An example is this note: “K’s solṇ won’t do, for moral acṇ is in t. & phenal . If, as acns in t., they are detḍ, don’t get freedom, which L’s soul reqṣ.” 1 The cpbr lists are combined below, as is shorthand in the notes and marginalia on Leibniz and Lotze and (thanks to Andy Bone) letters to Ottoline Morrell. While the list assists in expanding Russell’s shorthand, it may not work in reverse. Assume that singular forms of plurals drop the “s”. Standard abbreviations and most names are excluded. 1 “Kant’s solution won’t do, for moral action is in time and phenomenal. If, as actions in time, they are determined, don’t get freedom, which Lotze’s soul requires” (McTaggart’s “Lectures on [the Logic of] Lotze”, Rec. Acq. 385; original at Texas). q= Russell’s Personal Shorthand 67 c:\users\arlene\documents\rj issues\type3501\rj 3501 061 red.docx 2015-07-10 4:07 PM abṭ about abs. absolute absly absolutely abste absolute abstr abstract abstr. abstract acns actions accṇ acceleration ṇ addition adjṣ adjectives adjves adjectives analytal analytical ∠lar angular ∠ṣ angles A. R. Anharmonic Ratio a. v. apparent variable ap. var. apparent variable app. vars. apparent variables applicṇ application aric arithmetic Arḷ’s Aristotle’s Arle Aristotle argṭ argument Aristṇ Aristotelian arithc̣ arithmetic arithmal arithmetical assumpn assumption astronal astronomical attracṇ attraction ax. axiom axes axioms axṣ axioms ∵ because B.V. M. BlessedVirgin Mary betw. between Brỵ Bradley c. g. centre of gravity c. s. curvature of space c. & e. cause and effect cḍ could cḍn’t couldn’t calc. calculus catal categorical cats. categories Charạ Unṣ Characteristica Universalis ⊙ circle ⊙’s circles circums. circumstances classf ṇ classification classif ṇ classification collṇ collection collecṇ collection communicṇ communication compts components concḍ conceived concns conceptions conclns conclusions condal conditional condns conditions configṇ configuration consṇ conservation conscness consciousness const. constant constent constituent constṇ constitution consttes constitutes constts constituents constr. construct constrns constructions contrṇ contradiction contradicns contradictions Coop. Cooperative coords. coordinates cor. corollary corrce correspondence corrḍ correspond corrg̣ corresponding corrṣ corresponds cp. compare cpres compares cpsons comparisons cptve comparative dọ ditto … ditto D. V. DeusVolant DC. Descartes dedṇ deduction dedve deductive defḍ defined defte de...

What Original? Origin Stories, Script Teratologies, and Leibniz's Hexagrammatology

Whenever scholars of Comparative Literature invoke the importance of working with the original, there are clear political implications. Claiming the surplus value of work in the original language(s) versus work in translation emphasizes cultural specificity and celebrates the multiplicity of linguistic and cultural expressions that are the corpus of Comparative Literature as a discipline. However, the term “original” also has less benign innuendos that conceptually void hybridity and polyvalence: the original (versus the copy), the origin (versus derivation and decadence), as well as the origin or arché of the archive (versus cultural repertoires and marginal expressions). This essay uses Leibniz's search for a linguistic original and origin of Chinese as a test case as well as a caveat against some implications of the claim for linguistic “originality” (with its different meanings). Leibniz's project of a Characteristica universalis, a universal philosophical language, drew inspiration from the Chinese script—or rather, from what was known or fantasized about it by European scholars. In a time in which the quest for the monogenetic origin of languages gave way to the possibility to conceive of a perfect man-made language, Chinese seemed a likely model. However, Leibniz's dream of a Universal Character relied on a combination of competing semiotic and systemic requirements that only the misguided view of sinographs and hexagrams as an integral part of one Chinese script system could achieve. Consequently, instead of finding a perfect philosophical language in the Chinese script, Leibniz framed Chinese as an impossible system of multiple scripts and signifying principles.

Leśniewski’s characteristica universalis

Leśniewski’s systems deviate greatly from standard logic in some basic features. The deviant aspects are rather well known, and often cited among the reasons why Leśniewski’s work enjoys little recognition. This paper is an attempt to explain why those aspects should be there at all. Leśniewski built his systems inspired by a dream close to Leibniz’s characteristica universalis: a perfect system of deductive theories encoding our knowledge of the world, based on a perfect language. My main claim is that Leśniewski built his characteristica universalis following the conditions of de Jong and Betti’s Classical Model of Science (2008) to an astounding degree. While showing this I give an overview of the architecture of Leśniewski’s systems and of their fundamental characteristics. I suggest among others that the aesthetic constraints Leśniewski put on axioms and primitive terms have epistemological relevance.

Leibniz on Geometry

Leibniz pursued the study of his new geometry, the analysis situs, throughout his lifetime. The following essays, the Ars Representatoria and the text Uniformis locus ... , both go back to the early nineties of the seventeenth century. Although most of the analysis situs texts are still unpublished-which makes it very hard to see how this discipline might have evolved during the years--there seems to be no doubt that the beginning of 1690s marked a breakthrough in Leibniz's studies. The first noteworthy essays on the new Leibnizean geometry go back to 1679. 1 Here the especially relevant symbolic interest links them, as a particular specimen, to the great development attained in those years by the characteristica universalis. Such a tendency will somehow regress during the next decade, in which Leibniz will be less busy elaborating on symbolism and more engaged in fully recognizing the peculiar value of his geometrical endeavor. However, even though Leibniz had already studied Euclid during the seventies, at the time he was too pressed by his own projects and too enthusiastic about his original dis­ coveries really to absorb (autrement qu' on a coustume de lire les histoires 2) the full richness of the Elements. Thus, while his geometrical research remained indeed original, it was rather lacking in authentically scientific content. In this respect, his 1689-90 joumey to Italy celtainly represented a tuming point in his studies on the analysis of situation. Leibniz first came into contact with the works of Italian geometers - in particular with the book Euclide Restituto by Vitale Giordano, the scholar who might have also prompted him to read Borelli's work. In fact, a brief yet intense epistolary exchange took place between Leibniz and Giordano. Leibniz might have noticed that the mathematicians he met in Italy, although at the top of their fame and scientific understanding, maintained respect for Euclid's geometrical formulations. Thus, he resolved to resume and expand his work on the Elements, recognizing that just in mastering Euclid he would pos­ sibly be able to attain the required geometrical sophistication that would free his new situational calculus from the programmatic abstractness of generic formula­ tions or discussions about philosophical foundations. 3

Realising the Enlightenment: H.T. Odum’s Energy Systems Language qua G.W.v Leibniz’s Characteristica Universalis

Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz (1646–1716) is usually regarded as one of the world’s greatest philosophers. If our thesis is right—that the Energy Systems Language is a Characteristica Universalis—the late Howard Thomas Odum (1924–2001) shares in this title. Moreover the work of H.T. Odum and colleagues can be considered a progression of natural science, creatively realising what contemporary German philosopher J. Habermas calls the project of the Enlightenment. As a consequence, H.T. Odum’s work is worthy of far greater historical profundity and philosophical respect than many may have previously imagined.

Leibniz, the Yijing, and the Religious Conversion of the Chinese

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was a synthesizer of ideas, a deep religious thinker and an avid Sinophile. Leibniz sought a characteristica universalis, or universal language, that would assist his quest to order all human knowledge. In his search he was drawn to the Chinese Yijing, or Book of Changes. The concepts and symbols of this ancient classic appeared to represent binary arithmetic, and through this suggested a mystical model that related God to creation. Through the Yijing, Leibniz also became involved with the Figurist and accommodationist strategies by which the Jesuits hoped to convert the Chinese people to Christianity. Here we examine this strange episode in the history of mathematics and discuss how Leibniz linked mathematics with philosophy, cosmology, theology, and metaphysics.

El Español en los proyectos de lengua universal

Summary ‘One language for the world’ is the most perennial ideal in the history of humanity. Projects for a universal language have been multifarious. Its design typically depends on the dominant linguistic theories of the period in which such languages are conceived. The project by Bonifacio Sotos Ochando (1785–1869) of 1852 can be considered as the highest point reached by the tradition which harks back to the 17th century and tries to develop what is known as a ‘philosophical’ language or characteristica universalis. From 1860 onwards the projects for a universal language are, in general, a posteriori linguistic systems which look at historical grammars and languages in search for general principles and universal rules. Languages used for the design of such a posteriori projects are, for political and cultural reasons, European languages, mainly Romance languages. In this paper the focus is on Spanish. First, a classification of international language projects of is offered that, in some way, use Spanish. Second, the growing of Spanish language in the USA and its relationships with English is analysed. Third, the influence on Spanish by new technologies of communication is discussed. Finally, an analogy is drawn between the role of Latin in the 17th century and English in the 20th with regard to the search for an auxiliary international language.

Elementary Principles for Representing Knowledge

KO KNOWLEDGE ORGANIZATION , Seite 88 - 102

The Philosopher's conception ofMathesis Universalisfrom Descartes to Leibniz

Summary In Descartes, the concept of a ‘universal science’ differs from that of a ‘mathesis universalis’, in that the latter is simply a general theory of quantities and proportions. Mathesis universalis is closely linked with mathematical analysis; the theorem to be proved is taken as given, and the analyst seeks to discover that from which the theorem follows. Though the analytic method is followed in the Meditations, Descartes is not concerned with a mathematisation of method; mathematics merely provides him with examples. Leibniz, on the other hand, stressed the importance of a calculus as a way of representing and adding to what is known, and tried to construct a ‘universal calculus’ as part of his proposed universal symbolism, his ‘characteristica universalis’. The characteristica universalis was never completed—it proved impossible, for example, to list its basic terms, the ‘alphabet of human thoughts’—but parts of it did come to fruition, in the shape of Leibniz's infinitesimal calculus and his va...

Deductive Explanation in The Social Sciences

In' the game of Eleusis, the dealer deals a pack of cards to the players and writes down a secret Rule of play. The players proffer a card in turn, which the dealer accepts or rejects according to his secret Rule. Accepted cards are added to a growing line and rejects are put aside face up. The players thus have an increasing stock of positive and negative evidence to aid them in testing hypotheses about the Rule and the game stops as soon as one player has finally had all his cards accepted. For reasons of the scoring, the dealer does well to pick a Rule which is economical, not too restrictive, unobvious but likely to be detected by a few of the players. (For instance the Rule 'Play red on black and black on red' would be economical and unrestrictive but too obvious.) The game is a sort of secular, tea-table echo of Kepler's conviction that science is thinking God's thoughts after Him. Eleusis is often presented as a cameo study in scientific method. The usual point of analogy is the presence of both hypotheticoand deductive elements and it is used to illustrate a sophisticated inductivism. On reflection, however, the analogy seems more pleasing to Kepler or Leibniz than to the Vienna Circle. The dealer watches his chosen word unfold by rational principles of internal self-development. The players overcome their 'confused perceptions' and 'inadequate ideas' by crediting the Dealer with having chosen the best possible Rule consistent with the phenomena and, ideally, by expressing the implications of this insight in a characteristica universalis. Eleusis cannot be played without assuming a Rule in nature designed to maximise some kind of rational satisfaction. As soon as the Dealer is thought of as a purposeless empirical nature, instead of as God the Mathemagician, and as soon as natural laws are treated in Positive spirit as merely the simplest summary of frequent concomitances in a repeating pattern, then the

Comenius (Komensky) on Lexical Symbolism in an Artificial Language

Although philosophising about given languages had been going on ever since the time of Plato's Kratylos, the idea of an artificial philosophical language or system of signs began to take shape in the seventeenth century. Both Descartes and Mersenne explored the ground for the foundations of a system of expressions which could meet all the requirements of logical thought; but the merit of presenting the first elaborate plans goes to the British authors George Dalgarno and John Wilkins.1 Leibniz followed soon after with his characteristica universalis.