Leibniz and the application of mathematics to physics
Abstract
In this paper I will analyze Leibniz’s conception of the application of mathematics to physics between 1677 and 1690. We will primarily reconstruct this conception based on some related concepts, such as those of “attributes” or “accompanying qualities”. I will show that, by applying mathematics to physics, Leibniz specifically understood the possibility of providing mechanical explanations that account for the immediate and intelligible cause by which confusing qualities take place, in a sense that must be elucidated. These explanations reveal, therefore, the a parte rei structure from which sensations take place.
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