Combining Texts

All the ideas for 'fragments/reports', 'Letters to Foucher' and 'Events'

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5 ideas

7. Existence / B. Change in Existence / 4. Events / c. Reduction of events

9413	An event is a change in or to an object [Lombard, by Mumford]
	Full Idea: Lombard holds that an event is a change in or to an object.
	From: report of Lawrence B. Lombard (Events [1986]) by Stephen Mumford - Laws in Nature 2.1
	A reaction: This strikes me as more plausible than Davidson's view that events are primitive, or Kim's that they are exemplifications of properties. Events then exist just insofar as we wish to (or are able to) discriminate them.

8. Modes of Existence / C. Powers and Dispositions / 4. Powers as Essence

13095	Essence is primitive force, or a law of change [Leibniz]
	Full Idea: The essence of substances consists in the primitive force of action, or the law of the sequence of changes.
	From: Gottfried Leibniz (Letters to Foucher [1675], 1676)
	A reaction: [a 1676 note on Foucher's reply] It take these to be the two key distinctive Leibnizian contributions to the sort of metaphysic that is needed by modern science. Nature works with intrinsic essences, which are forces determining action.

26. Natural Theory / A. Speculations on Nature / 5. Infinite in Nature

1748	Archelaus was the first person to say that the universe is boundless [Archelaus, by Diog. Laertius]
	Full Idea: Archelaus was the first person to say that the universe is boundless.
	From: report of Archelaus (fragments/reports [c.450 BCE]) by Diogenes Laertius - Lives of Eminent Philosophers 02.Ar.3

26. Natural Theory / C. Causation / 9. General Causation / d. Causal necessity

2117	The connection in events enables us to successfully predict the future, so there must be a constant cause [Leibniz]
	Full Idea: There is a connection among our appearances that provides us the means to predict future appearances with success, and this connection must have a constant cause.
	From: Gottfried Leibniz (Letters to Foucher [1675])

27. Natural Reality / G. Biology / 3. Evolution

5989	Archelaus said life began in a primeval slime [Archelaus, by Schofield]
	Full Idea: Archelaus wrote that life on Earth began in a primeval slime.
	From: report of Archelaus (fragments/reports [c.450 BCE]) by Malcolm Schofield - Archelaus
	A reaction: This sounds like a fairly clearcut assertion of the production of life by evolution. Darwin's contribution was to propose the mechanism for achieving it. We should honour the name of Archelaus for this idea.