This book presents a comprehensive examination of Gottfried Leibniz's views on the nature of agents and their actions. Julia Jorati offers a fresh look at controversial topics including Leibniz's doctrines of teleology, the causation of spontaneous changes within substances, divine concurrence, freedom, and contingency, and also discusses widely neglected issues such as his theories of moral responsibility, control, attributability, and compulsion. Rather than focusing exclusively on human agency, she explores the activities of non-rational substances and the differences between distinctive types of actions, showing how the will, appetitions, and teleology are key to Leibniz's discussions of agency. Her book reveals that Leibniz has a nuanced and compelling philosophy of action which has relevance for present-day discussions of agency. It will be of interest to scholars and students of early modern philosophy as well as to metaphysicians and philosophers of action.
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Introduction; 1. Monads and their actions; 2. Spontaneity; 3. Teleology; 4. Attributability and divine concurrence; 5. Freedom; 6. Control, weakness, and compulsion; 7. Moral agency.
'Jorati's book is a much-needed addition to Leibniz scholarship. I highly recommend it to all commentators and students of Leibniz, as well as those philosophers of action whose are interested either in the historical debate or in some foundational work from Leibniz relevant to their own work.' Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews
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A fresh and thorough exploration of Leibniz's often controversial theories, including his thought on teleology, contingency, freedom, and moral responsibility.

Produktdetaljer

ISBN
9781107192676
Publisert
2017-07-13
Utgiver
Vendor
Cambridge University Press
Vekt
460 gr
Høyde
235 mm
Bredde
156 mm
Dybde
17 mm
Aldersnivå
P, 06
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Innbundet
Antall sider
236

Forfatter

Biographical note

Julia Jorati is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the Ohio State University. She has published numerous articles on Leibniz's metaphysics, philosophy of mind, and ethics, in publications including the Journal of the History of Philosophy, The Leibniz Review, Philosophy Compass, and several edited volumes.