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All the ideas for 'The Courtier and the Heretic', 'talk' and 'Against Barbaric physics'

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3 ideas

24. Political Theory / B. Nature of a State / 5. Culture
Culture is the struggle to agree what is normal [Gibson,A]
     Full Idea: Culture is the struggle to agree what is normal.
     From: Andrew Gibson (talk [2018])
     A reaction: A nice aphorism. Typically the struggle took place in villages, but has now gone global. The normalities of other cultures are beamed into a remote society, and are frequently unwelcome.
24. Political Theory / D. Ideologies / 10. Theocracy
The politics of Leibniz was the reunification of Christianity [Stewart,M]
     Full Idea: The politics of Leibniz may be summed up in one word: theocracy. The specific agenda motivating much of his work was to reunite the Protestant and Catholic churches
     From: Matthew Stewart (The Courtier and the Heretic [2007], Ch. 5)
     A reaction: This would be a typical project for a rationalist philosopher, who thinks that good reasoning will gradually converge on the one truth.
27. Natural Reality / A. Classical Physics / 1. Mechanics / c. Forces
Some people return to scholastic mysterious qualities, disguising them as 'forces' [Leibniz]
     Full Idea: It pleases others to return to occult qualities or scholastic faculties, but since these crude philosophers and physicians see that those terms are in bad repute they change their name, calling them 'forces'.
     From: Gottfried Leibniz (Against Barbaric physics [1716], A&G:313), quoted by Robert Pasnau - Metaphysical Themes 1274-1671 19.7
     A reaction: Deceptive, because Leibniz embraced forces in his revised Aristotelian essentialism. Leibniz placed forces within essences, and he is worried about forces as separate entities, unsupported by any substance.