more on this theme | more from this thinker
Full Idea
The force or proximate cause of these changes [of position] is something more real, and there is sufficient basis to attribute it to one body more than to another.
Clarification
A 'proximate' cause is the one closest to the effect
Gist of Idea
The immediate cause of movements is more real [than geometry]
Source
Gottfried Leibniz (Discourse on Metaphysics [1686], §18), quoted by Daniel Garber - Leibniz:Body,Substance,Monad 3
Book Ref
Garber,Daniel: 'Leibniz: Body, Substance, Monad' [OUP 2009], p.119
A Reaction
The force is said to be 'more real' than geometry. Leibniz seems to have embraced fairly physical powers in the period 1678-1698, and then seen them as more and more like spirits.
7558 | Substances mirror God or the universe, each from its own viewpoint [Leibniz] |
2119 | People argue for God's free will, but it isn't needed if God acts in perfection following supreme reason [Leibniz] |
5023 | Future contingent events are certain, because God foresees them, but that doesn't make them necessary [Leibniz] |
12711 | The immediate cause of movements is more real [than geometry] [Leibniz] |
5024 | Knowledge doesn't just come from the senses; we know the self, substance, identity, being etc. [Leibniz] |
5025 | Mind and body can't influence one another, but God wouldn't intervene in the daily routine [Leibniz] |
5026 | Animals lack morality because they lack self-reflection [Leibniz] |
5027 | If a person's memories became totally those of the King of China, he would be the King of China [Leibniz] |
13088 | Subjects include predicates, so full understanding of subjects reveals all the predicates [Leibniz] |
13085 | Leibniz is some form of haecceitist [Leibniz, by Cover/O'Leary-Hawthorne] |
19349 | The complete notion of a substance implies all of its predicates or attributes [Leibniz] |
16761 | Forms are of no value in physics, but are indispensable in metaphysics [Leibniz] |
19342 | Reason avoids multiplying hypotheses or principles [Leibniz] |