Leibniz and the Natural World : Activity, Passivity and Corporeal Substances in Leibniz's Philosophy /
By: Phemister, Pauline [author.].
Contributor(s): SpringerLink (Online service).
Material type:
BookSeries: The New Synthese Historical Library Texts and Studies in the History of Philosophy: 58Publisher: Dordrecht : Springer Netherlands, 2005.Description: XVI, 298 p. online resource.Content type: text Media type: computer Carrier type: online resourceISBN: 9781402034015.Subject(s): Philosophy | Philosophy of nature | Philosophy | Philosophy, general | History of Philosophy | Philosophy of NatureDDC classification: 100 Online resources: Click here to access online | Item type | Current location | Call number | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
E books
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PK Kelkar Library, IIT Kanpur | Available | EBK1752 |
Substances: Public and Private -- Primary Matter -- Extension -- The Composition of Bodies -- The Composition of the Continuum -- Perceptions and Perceivers -- Phenomenal Bodies -- Derivative Forces -- Pre-Established Harmony -- Freedom.
In the present book, Pauline Phemister argues against traditional Anglo-American interpretations of Leibniz as an idealist who conceives ultimate reality as a plurality of mind-like immaterial beings and for whom physical bodies are ultimately unreal and our perceptions of them illusory. Re-reading the texts without the prior assumption of idealism allows the more material aspects of Leibniz's metaphysics to emerge. Leibniz is found to advance a synthesis of idealism and materialism. His ontology posits indivisible, living, animal-like corporeal substances as the real metaphysical constituents of the universe; his epistemology combines sense-experience and reason; and his ethics fuses confused perceptions and insensible appetites with distinct perceptions and rational choice. In the light of his sustained commitment to the reality of bodies, Phemister re-examines his dynamics, the doctrine of pre-established harmony and his views on freedom. The image of Leibniz as a rationalist philosopher who values activity and reason over passivity and sense-experience is replaced by the one of a philosopher who recognises that, in the created world, there can only be activity if there is also passivity; minds, souls and forms if there is also matter; good if there is evil; perfection if there is imperfection.
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