Leibniz and the natural world : Activity, passivity and corporeal substances in Leibniz's Philosophy
- Author
- Pauline Phemister
- Publication Year
- 2005
- Publisher
- Springer
- Language
- English
- Document Type
- Book
- Faculty / Subject Heading
- Social Science
- Download Book Read book
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.
Keywords: Humanities, Social Science and Law / Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz / René Descartes / Continuity / Epistemology / Ethics / Freedom / Interpret / Metaphysics / Philosophy
