Leibniz on Causation and Agency

238 Pages·2017·2.668 MB·English

by  Julia Jorati

Leibniz on Causation and Agency
ThisbookpresentsacomprehensiveexaminationofGottfriedLeibniz’sviews
on the nature of agents and their actions. Julia Jorati offers a fresh look at
controversialtopicsincludingLeibniz’sdoctrinesofteleology,thecausationof
spontaneous changes within substances, divine concurrence, freedom, and
contingency, and alsodiscusses widely neglectedissues suchas histheories
of moral responsibility, control, attributability, and compulsion. Rather than
focusing exclusively on human agency, she explores the activities of nonra-
tional substances and the differences between distinctive types of actions,
showinghowthewill,appetitions,andteleologyarekeytoLeibniz’sdiscus-
sionsofagency.HerbookrevealsthatLeibnizhasanuancedandcompelling
philosophyofactionthathasrelevanceforpresent-daydiscussionsofagency.
Itwillbeofinteresttoscholarsandstudentsofearlymodernphilosophyaswell
astometaphysiciansandphilosophersofaction.
julia jorati is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the Ohio State
University. She has published numerous articles on Leibniz’s metaphysics,
philosophyofmind,andethics,inpublicationsincludingtheJournalofthe
HistoryofPhilosophy,TheLeibnizReview,PhilosophyCompass,andseveral
editedvolumes.

Leibniz on Causation
and Agency
Julia Jorati
TheOhioStateUniversity
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Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781107192676
DOI:10.1017/9781108131629
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Contents
ListofTables pagevi
Acknowledgments vii
NoteonTranslationsandCitations viii
ListofAbbreviations ix
Introduction 1
1 MonadsandTheirActions 8
2 Spontaneity 37
3 Teleology 59
4 AttributabilityandDivineConcurrence 92
5 Freedom 114
6 Control,Weakness,andCompulsion 148
7 MoralAgency 180
References 208
Index 217
v
Tables
1 ThreeTypesofSpontaneity page58
2 TypesofSpontaneityandTeleology 77
3 TypesofNecessity 128
vi
Acknowledgments
Manypeoplehavemadedirectorindirectcontributionstothisproject.Firstand
foremost,IamgratefultoMichaelDellaRocca,whosemanycommentsoverthe
yearshaveshapedandsharpenedmythoughtsaboutLeibniz.IalsothankBernd
Ludwig, who first introduced me to early modern philosophy and to Leibniz
when I was an undergraduate. Marleen Rozemond, Paul Lodge, Donald
Rutherford, and Stephan Schmid provided extensive comments on the book
manuscript and prompted me to make many improvements, for which I am
tremendouslythankful.Moreover,Iamgratefultoalltheotherswhohavegiven
me feedback at various stages: Chloe Armstrong, Christian Barth, Sebastian
Bender,GregoryBrown,JuliaBorcherding,JohnCarriero,LisaDowning,Tom
Feeney, Juan Garcia, Ursula Goldenbaum, Sean Greenberg, John Hare, Verity
Harte, Glenn Hartz, Larry Jorgensen, Sukjae Lee, Antonia LoLordo, Jeffrey
McDonough, Brian McLean, Sam Newlands, Robert Pasnau, Sydney Penner,
DominikPerler,KristinPrimus,KelleySchiffman,TadSchmaltz,LisaShabel,
Stewart Shapiro, Sun-Joo Shin, Allan Silverman, Alison Simmons, Robert
Sleigh, Neil Tennant, John Whipple, and Kenneth Winkler. Of course, I am
solely to blame for any mistakes and imperfections in this book – much like
Leibnizianagentsareresponsibleforallprivationsintheiractions,aswewillsee
inChapter4.Finally,IthankmypartnerHadiJorati,whoencouragedmeevery
stepoftheway.
There is some overlap between this book and material already published
elsewhere: Chapters 2 and 3 contain some of the material from Jorati (2015)
and(2013);Chapter4containssomematerialfromvonBodelschwingh(Jorati)
(2011).Ithankthepublishersfortheirpermissiontousethismaterial.
vii
Note on Translations and Citations
If an English edition is explicitly cited (or associated with an abbreviation),
translations are taken from that English edition unless otherwise specified.
In all other cases, translations are mine. Quotations will include all italics
fromtheoriginaltext,unlessotherwisespecified.
viii