@article{Storni_2019, title={Maupertuis’s Principle of Least Action: Epistemology and Metaphysics}, volume={11}, url={https://montesquieu.unibo.it/article/view/9029}, DOI={10.6092/issn.2421-4124/9029}, abstractNote={The paper deals with Pierre-Louis Moreau de Maupertuis’s (1698-1759) writings on the principle of least action (PLA). I discuss Maupertuis’s philosophical interpretation of the PLA by analysing three of his papers (1740, 1744, 1746), in order to assess the overall consistency of his argument. As I shall argue, Maupertuis presents the PLA as a universal principle of nature, this being at odds with the empiricist inspiration of his epistemology. Maupertuis’s attempt to introduce conceptual elements borrowed from the Leibnizian tradition into a Newtonian-inspired framework creates in fact a tension that is difficult to overcome.}, number={1}, journal={Montesquieu.it}, author={Storni, Marco}, year={2019}, month={Jan.} }