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Ohad Nachtomy

Associate Professor
Bar-Ilan University
Leibniz and the Reenchantment of Nature
01 September 2018 - 31 January 2019
Philosophy
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Ohad Nachtomy is associate professor at the philosophy department at Bar-Ilan University, Israel, and a visitor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. His publications include over forty articles and the following books: Living Mirrors: Infinity, Unity, and Life in Leibniz's Philosophy, forthcoming with Oxford University Press; Possibility, Agency, and Individuality in Leibniz’s Metaphysics, Springer, 2007; The Life Sciences in Early Modern Philosophy, Oxford University Press, 2014, coedited with Justin E. H. Smith; Machines of Nature and Corporeal Substances in Leibniz, Springer, 2010, coedited with Justin E. H. Smith; and Examining Multiculturalism in Israel (in Hebrew), Magnes Press, 2003.

Research interests

Early modern philosophy and science; philosophy and history of biology; Wittgenstein’s philosophy; multicultural theory (especially in the Israeli context)

Leibniz and the Reenchantment of Nature

The present research project will focus on Leibniz and his subtle response to the Cartesian attempt to mechanize the phenomena of life. On the one hand, Descartes’ attempt to mechanize virtually all of the functions that had traditionally been assigned to the vegetative and sensitive souls, led to a radicalization of the mechanistic agenda, in which even the mental becomes naturalized, thus eliminating Descartes’ problematic mind/body dualism. This approach is evident in the work of 18th century physiologists, such as La Mettrie. On the other hand, Descartes’ agenda faced strong resistance and led to the invocation of various kinds of incorporeal principles, vital forces, and ‘plastic natures’ (e.g. More and Cudworth), which were supposed to be irreducible to mechanization and resistant to description in quantitative terms. Avoiding these two extremes, Leibniz offers a subtle and influential – if under-appreciated – reconciliation. Leibniz had developed an ingenious way to bypass what Justin Smith has called “that tired debate between vitalists and mechanists”. Leibniz developed a sophisticated way to fully embrace mechanism but to avoid its more dire consequences by re-introducing life into the very foundation of the natural world. The upshot of this project is to spell out Leibniz's attempt to recast organic world of living beings in terms of more exquisite mechanisms - what he often calls natural or divine machines.

Workshop organized by O. Nachtomy (2018-2019 Paris IAS fellow / Bar-Ilan University) and M. Lærke (CNRS, IHRIM), with the support of the Paris IAS
23 Jan 2019 14:00 -
24 Jan 2019 17:30,
Paris :
Mind and Body Across Time and Discipline
Lecture by O. Nachtomy, 2018-2019 Paris IAS fellow
15 Nov 2018 12:30 -
15 Nov 2018 14:30,
Paris :
What does infinity have to do with life?
Ohad Nachtomy presents his research project within the framework of the weekly internal seminar
23 Oct 2018 10:00 -
23 Oct 2018 13:00,
Paris :
Leibniz and the Reenchantment of Nature
26 Sep 2018 18:00 -
26 Sep 2018 20:00,
Paris :
Living Mirrors: Infinity, Unity and Life in Leibniz's Philosophy
Research project: "Leibniz and the Reenchantment of Nature"
18034
2018-2019
Modern period (1492-1789)
Western Europe