Combining Texts

Ideas for 'works', 'Mirror Mirror - Is That All?' and 'Letters to Antoine Arnauld'

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2 ideas

27. Natural Reality / A. Classical Physics / 1. Mechanics / c. Forces
Motion alone is relative, but force is real, and establishes its subject [Leibniz]
     Full Idea: Motion in itself separated from force is merely relative, and one cannot establish its subject. But force is something real and absolute.
     From: Gottfried Leibniz (Letters to Antoine Arnauld [1686], 1688.01.4/14)
     A reaction: The striking phrase here is that force enables us to 'establish its subject'. That is, force is at the heart of reality, and hence, through causal relations, individuates objects. That's how I read it.
27. Natural Reality / G. Biology / 2. Life
From the teleopragmatic perspective, life is largely an informational process [Gulick]
     Full Idea: From the teleopragmatic perspective, life itself is largely an informational process.
     From: Robert van Gulick (Mirror Mirror - Is That All? [2006])
     A reaction: From the cynical perspective a human is just 'blood and foul smell in a bag', but that may not give you whole story. The point here is that the informational view will cover both the genetic and the mental levels of human life. True but unilluminating?