Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 78 (3):505-544 (2009)
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Abstract |
This essay examines one of the cornerstones of Leibniz's defense of teleology within the order of nature. The first section explores Leibniz's contributions to the study of geometrical optics, and argues that his "Most Determined Path Principle" or "MDPP" allows him to bring to the fore philosophical issues concerning the legitimacy of teleological explanations by addressing two technical objections raised by Cartesians to non-mechanistic derivations of the laws of optics. The second section argues that, by drawing on laws such as the MDPP, Leibniz is able to introduce a thin notion of teleology that gives him the resources to respond to the most pressing charges of his day against teleological explanations within natural philosophy. Finally, the third section argues that contemporary philosophers have been overly hasty in their dismissal of Leibniz's account of natural teleology, and indeed that their own generally thin conceptions of teleology have left them with few well-motivated resources for resisting his elegant position
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Keywords | Analytic Philosophy Contemporary Philosophy Philosophy of Mind |
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ISBN(s) | 0031-8205 |
DOI | 10.1111/j.1933-1592.2009.00254.x |
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References found in this work BETA
The Structure of Science: Problems in the Logic of Scientific Explanation.Ernest Nagel - 1961 - New York, NY, USA: Harcourt, Brace & World.
The Philosophical Writings of Descartes: Volume 1.René Descartes - 1984 - Cambridge University Press.
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Citations of this work BETA
The Heyday of Teleology and Early Modern Philosophy.Jeffrey K. McDonough - 2011 - Midwest Studies in Philosophy 35 (1):179-204.
Leibniz's Optics and Contingency in Nature.Jeffrey K. McDonough - 2010 - Perspectives on Science 18 (4):432-455.
Teleology and Realism in Leibniz's Philosophy of Science.Nabeel Hamid - 2019 - In Vincenzo De Risi (ed.), Leibniz and the Structure of Sciences. Berlin: Springer. pp. 271-298.
A Sharper Image: The Quest of Science and Recursive Production of Objective Realities.Julio Michael Stern - 2020 - Principia: An International Journal of Epistemology 24 (2):255-297.
View all 10 citations / Add more citations
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