Maupertuis’s Principle of Least Action:  Epistemology and Metaphysics

Marco Storni

doi:10.6092/issn.2421-4124/9029

Maupertuis’s Principle of Least Action: Epistemology and Metaphysics

Autori

Marco Storni Università di Bologna
Domenico Felice ha insegnato Storia della Filosofia presso l’Università di Bologna. Si occupa di storia del pensiero etico-politico, con particolare riguardo a Montesquieu e Voltaire. Pubblicazioni principali: Montesquieu, Tutte le opere (1721-1754), Milano, Bompiani («Il pensiero occidentale»), 2014; Montesquieu, Scritti postumi (1757-2006), Milano, Bompiani ("Il pensiero occidentale"), 2017; Voltaire, Saggio sui costumi e lo spirito delle nazioni, 2 voll., Torino, Einaudi ("I millenni"), 2017.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.2421-4124/9029

Parole chiave:

Maupertuis, principle of least action, Newton, Leibniz, epistemology, metaphysics

Abstract

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.

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Pubblicato

2019-02-02

Come citare

Storni, M. (2019). Maupertuis’s Principle of Least Action: Epistemology and Metaphysics. Montesquieu.It, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.2421-4124/9029