The symbolic knowledge in Gottfried Leibniz

Abstract

In this work we propose to approach the notion of symbolic knowledge in the work of Gottfried Leibniz, tracking it in various texts of its authorship in which it is disseminated. We begin with the important distinction between idea and concept, which separates the approach of our author from the formulations of others such as Descartes, Malebranche and Spinoza. We continue with the classification of the types of concepts that the philosopher of Leipzig carries out,
in which he divides the symbolic concepts from the intuitives. We then deal with the epistemological advantages that symbolic thinking has over verbal thinking, analyzing its cognitive functions and its role in different types of semiotic systems. We continue to establish the epistemological symbolism within a general theory of representation, which supports a certain isomorphism between the spheres of language, thought and reality. Finally, we ontologically base this structural representative analogy on the Leibnizian notion of expression and link it with monadological perspectivism, highlighting its closeness to some phenomenological and hermeneutical approaches of our time.