Leibniz on Final Causes

Carlin, Laurence

doi:10.1353/hph.2006.0022

Cited by 10 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…This text makes it clear that Leibniz believed that perceptual states of a monad are efficient causes of later perceptual states. In an earlier paper, 28 I argued on the basis of this text, as well as others, that Leibnizian final causality may be seen as a species of efficient causality, and that is precisely the sense in which Leibniz held that final causes exhibit an influence: "the representation of the end in the soul is [an] efficient cause." Marleen Rozemond has challenged my claim on two grounds: first, she points out that Leibniz does not identify the efficient and final cause in this passage.…”

Section: The Non-aristotelian Novelty Of Leibniz's Teleologymentioning

confidence: 94%

The Non-Aristotelian Novelty of Leibniz’s Teleology

Carlin¹

2011

Leibniz Society Review

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My aim in this paper is to underscore the novelty of Leibniz's teleology from a historical perspective. I believe this perspective helps deliver a better understanding of the finer details of Leibniz's employment of final causes. I argue in this paper that Leibniz was taking a stance on three central teleological issues that derive from Aristotle, issues that seem to have occupied nearly every advocate of final causes from Aristotle to Leibniz. I discuss the three Aristotelian issues, and how major thinkers treated them in the medieval period. I argue that Leibniz rejected all of the mainstream Aristotelian teleological views on these issues. I conclude that Leibniz broke with longstanding threads of teleological thinking in ways that were often extreme.

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Section: The Non-aristotelian Novelty Of Leibniz's Teleologymentioning

confidence: 94%

The Non-Aristotelian Novelty of Leibniz’s Teleology

Carlin¹

2011

Leibniz Society Review

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“…23 Still, simplified representations of sensations enable comparisons of one's present state to possible states that would better satisfy a dominant appetite, inciting action. 24 Nietzsche's awareness of, and agreement with, Leibniz's positing of unconscious appetites and perceptions is established by GS 354, which refers to unconscious wills and actions, and GS 357, which refers to unconscious representations. 25 Granted, Nietzsche cannot abide Leibniz's view that perceptions and appetites inhere in substances.…”

Section: Nietzsche's Agreement With Leibnizmentioning

confidence: 98%

A Leibniz-Informed Approach to Nietzsche’s Drive Psychology

Mollison

2023

The Journal of Nietzsche Studies

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Despite drives’ importance for Nietzsche’s explanation of individuals’ values, controversies persist over how to interpret Nietzsche’s attribution of normative capacities to the drives themselves. On one reading, drives evaluate their aims and recognize the normative authority of other drives’ aims. On another, drives’ normative properties reduce to nonnormative, causal properties. Neither approach is satisfying. The former commits Nietzsche to the homuncular fallacy by granting drives complex cognitive capacities. The latter reading either commits Nietzsche to the naturalistic fallacy, having him derive normative conclusions from descriptive premises, or eliminates normativity from his thought altogether. In response to this impasse, this article advances a Leibniz-informed interpretation of Nietzsche’s drive psychology. By construing the normative and efficient causal orders as parallel modes of explanation distinguished by one’s perspective, a Leibniz-informed reading captures the benefits of extant interpretations while avoiding their drawbacks.

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“…Yet, other interpreters appear to hold that prior states of the agent, rather than the objects of the agent's appetitions, are the final causes of perceptual changes. Marc Bobro, for instance, claims that prior perceptual states are the final causes of later perceptual states insofar as they contain the reasons for these later states (§8), while Laurence Carlin argues that prior appetitions are the final causes of monadic changes (‘The Non‐Aristotelian Novelty’ 83f.; ‘Leibniz on Final Causes’ 232). This would, however, be a radical departure from the traditional understanding of final causation, which identifies the final cause with the end itself, rather than with appetitions for, or perceptions of, the end.…”

Section: Final Causation In Deliberate Actionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Leibniz on Causation – Part 2

Joráti

2015

Philosophy Compass

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Leibniz is almost unique among early modern philosophers in giving final causation a central place in his metaphysical system. All changes in created substances, according to Leibniz, have final causes, that is, occur for the sake of some end. There is, however, no consensus among commentators about the details of Leibniz's views on final causation. The least perfect types of changes that created substances undergo are especially puzzling because those changes seem radically different from paradigmatic instances of final causation. Building on my more general discussion of efficient and final causation in 'Leibniz on CausationPart 1,' I will examine and assess some of the rival interpretations of Leibniz's account of final causation.In 'Leibniz on Causation -Part 1,' I argued that the changes in created substances have both efficient and final causes, on Leibniz's view, and I explored various interpretations of how exactly Leibniz understands efficient causation. I also provided a rough sketch of the traditional Aristotelian account of final causation or teleology. In this tradition, the final cause is that for the sake of which a change occurs, or the purpose or end of some change. For instance, obtaining delicious coffee is the final cause of my trip to a coffee shop, and becoming a mature oak tree is the final cause of an acorn's developments. After all, I go to the coffee shop for the sake of the coffee, and the acorn changes for the sake of becoming an oak. In both cases, according to the tradition, this end or purpose is a vital component of the explanation. Now it is time to take a keener look at what precisely the final causes of the changes in Leibnizian substances might be.The interpretive difficulties and disputes surrounding Leibniz's views on efficient causation that I described in 'Leibniz on Causation -Part 1' are nothing in comparison to the difficulties and disputes surrounding his views about teleology. As noted in Part 1, Leibniz repeatedly describes the realm of monads as the kingdom of final causes (see e.g., M §79; G 7:344/AG 319). 1 He also associates appetitions with final causation, 2 and since appetitions govern all changes in monads, this presumably means that all monadic changes have final causes. Yet, he is less than forthcoming about the details of his understanding of the final cause. As a result, there are a number of different ways of interpreting Leibniz's doctrine that the changes in created monads have final causes. Final Causation in Deliberate ActionsLet us start with the least controversial cases, that is, the deliberate actions of rational agents. Take, for instance, the coffee shop example: I stand outside of my favorite coffee shop, think about what to do, and decide to go in and get a large caffè latte for myself. We can explain the consequent changes in my perceptions, such as my perceptions of walking into the coffee shop and of the transaction with the barrista, in terms of final causation. I have chosen to pursue a certain end -namely, enjoying some latte -and perfor...

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Leibniz on Final Causes

Cited by 10 publications

References 20 publications

The Non-Aristotelian Novelty of Leibniz’s Teleology

The Non-Aristotelian Novelty of Leibniz’s Teleology

A Leibniz-Informed Approach to Nietzsche’s Drive Psychology

Leibniz on Causation – Part 2

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