Du Châtelet's Causal Idealism

British Journal for the History of Philosophy:1-22 (forthcoming)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

I show that unlike her rationalist predecessor Leibniz, Du Châtelet is committed to epistemic causal idealism about natural causes. According to this view, it is constitutive of natural causes that they are in principle knowable by us (i.e., finite intelligent beings). Du Châtelet’s causal idealism stems at least in part from the distinctive theoretical role played by the Principle of Sufficient Reason in her system (as presented in her _Institutions de physique_), as well as her argument for the Principle of Sufficient Reason. I show that far from merely explicating Leibniz’s metaphysics, Du Châtelet develops a radical and novel rationalism that is in keeping with her core commitment to science.

Other Versions

No versions found

Similar books and articles

Du Ch'telet's causal idealism.Canada Vancouver - forthcoming - British Journal for the History of Philosophy:1-22.
Du Châtelet on Sufficient Reason and Empirical Explanation.Aaron Wells - 2021 - Southern Journal of Philosophy 59 (4):629-655.
Science and the Principle of Sufficient Reason: Du Châtelet contra Wolff.Aaron Wells - 2023 - Hopos: The Journal of the International Society for the History of Philosophy of Science 13 (1):24–53.
Du Chatelet: Idealist about extension, bodies and space.Caspar Jacobs - 2020 - Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 82:66-74.
Emilie du Chatelet's Metaphysics of Substance.Marius Stan - 2018 - Journal of the History of Philosophy 56 (3):477-496.
Émilie Du Châtelet on Illusions.Marcy P. Lascano - 2021 - Journal of the American Philosophical Association 7 (1):1-19.
Du Châtelet on the Need for Mathematics in Physics.Aaron Wells - 2021 - Philosophy of Science 88 (5):1137-1148.

Analytics

Added to PP
2024-07-17

Downloads
259 (#106,707)

6 months
157 (#28,624)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

Fatema Amijee
University of British Columbia

References found in this work

Principle of Sufficient Reason.Fatema Amijee - 2021 - Encyclopedia of Early Modern Philosophy and the Sciences.
Emilie du Chatelet's Metaphysics of Substance.Marius Stan - 2018 - Journal of the History of Philosophy 56 (3):477-496.
Du Châtelet on Sufficient Reason and Empirical Explanation.Aaron Wells - 2021 - Southern Journal of Philosophy 59 (4):629-655.
On Some Leibnizian Arguments for the Principle of Sufficient Reason.Stephen Harrop - 2020 - History of Philosophy Quarterly 37 (2):143-162.

View all 14 references / Add more references