Leibniz on force and absolute motion

Philosophy of Science 70 (3):553-573 (2003)
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Abstract

I elaborate and defend an interpretation of Leibniz on which he is committed to a stronger space-time structure than so-called Leibnizian space-time, with absolute speeds grounded in his concept of force rather than in substantival space and time. I argue that this interpretation is well-motivated by Leibniz's mature writings, that it renders his views on space, time, motion, and force consistent with his metaphysics, and that it makes better sense of his replies to Clarke than does the standard interpretation. Further, it illuminates the way in which Leibniz took his physics to be grounded in his metaphysics.

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John Roberts
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Citations of this work

Classical Spacetime Structure.James Owen Weatherall - 2022 - In Eleanor Knox & Alastair Wilson, The Routledge Companion to Philosophy of Physics. London, UK: Routledge.
Kant’s Early Theory of Motion.Marius Stan - 2009 - The Leibniz Review 19:29-61.
Leibniz and Newton on Space.Ori Belkind - 2013 - Foundations of Science 18 (3):467-497.

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References found in this work

The Leibniz-Clarke Correspondence.H. G. Alexander - 1956 - Philosophy 32 (123):365-366.
Space, time, and spacetime.L. Sklar - 1976 - Revue Philosophique de la France Et de l'Etranger 172 (3):545-555.
A Critical exposition of the Philosophie of Leibniz.B. Russell - 1901 - Revue de Métaphysique et de Morale 9 (1):9-9.

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