Abstract

The objective of this chapter is to trace the influence of Stoic dispositional innatism on the early development of Herder’s concept of force through an examination of two of the most likely sources of transmission of this tradition: Leibniz and Shaftesbury. The interdependence of soul-forces, the obscure, and dispositional innatism is then explored in Herder’s plan for an aesthetics that genuinely comes to grips with the lower, sensuous regions of the soul that he presents against the backdrop of his critical engagement with Baumgarten.