Talk on Leibniz as a theologian: Theological foundations of his moral philosophy

MARÍA GRISELDA GAIADA

Lovaina

Seminario; Seminar - Interfaculty Centre for Catholic Thought; 2019

Faculty of Theology, KU Leuven

Invitación del Prof. Tegmeyer y del Prof. van Erp para presentar el pensamiento teológico-filosófico de Leibniz en el seminario semanal del Interfaculty Centre for Catholic Thought, Catholic University of Leuven. Abstract de la comunicación:Leibniz as a theologian. The theological foundation of his moral philosophyScholars of the history of ideas of the 17th century rightly reiterate that Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was a thinker so universal, who has excelled in so many fields, that so far only few people have dared to explore his position within the European tradition and the fields of thought that preceded him and surrounded him (Oestreich, Müller). His theological thought is not an exception. It has generally been eclipsed by interpretations of his irenic campaign in terms of "Realpolitik" (I) and by a reception that emphasizes Leibniz´s ´philosophical side´ in detriment of his strong theological engagements. For instance, his moral, juridical and political philosophy has frequently been studied without paying enough attention to the theological background (II). (I)As for his irenic project, Leibniz was, so to speak, a "Catholicizing theologian" who believed in a European solution to the Christian schism based on an ecumenical thought of real doctrinal rapprochement. Witness of the persecution of the Huguenots (whose acme came with the revocation of the edict of Nantes), Leibniz immediately undertook the task of writing a Systema theologicum (1686). It is a remarkable theological piece -exceptional since it was written by a Protestant-, trying to approach to the dogmas of the Catholic Church.(II)Concerning the second point, it should be stressed that Leibniz´s philosophy, particularly his political, juridical and moral philosophy, cannot be understood without the ineluctable theological foundation, often overlooked by secularized interpretations. The objective of this communication is to show that in Leibniz´s thought there is a "teleological ethics of the best" founded on a notion of God, more precisely on the Ens perfectissimum´s attributes. For doing so, we will offer a hermeneutic approach of the moral principle on which Leibnizian ethics is based: "we must act according to God´s presumptive will". As it seems that Leibniz´s thought is driven by a number of internal paradoxes, our perspective will enable us to solve the problems arisen from the concept of presumptive divine will. Is it a will based on positive laws or commandments which unconditionally obligate (Exodus, Deuteronomy)? Or is it a will that only can be presumed by the wise man who tends to identify his will to God´s one (principle of the best)? As will be seen, the answer to this question rests on a hierarchy of moral principles, closely linked to a Christian theology, whose foundation stone is the principle of love, or caritas sapientis, as it was retaken by Leibniz: "Idem velle et idem nolle vera amicitia est".