Any apparent causal influence between substances must therefore be grounded in pre-established harmony rather than real transmission, rendering influx theory explanatorily idle for Leibnizian metaphysics.

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Reasons For

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Reason for

1.Leibniz's monads are causally isolated substances with no windows, making physical interaction between them metaphysically impossible.
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2.Pre-established harmony explains coordinated appearance of causation without violating monadic independence or requiring mysterious transmission.
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3.Influx theory posits causal powers crossing between substances, but Leibniz's substance metaphysics provides no coherent mechanism for such crossing.
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Reasons Against

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Reason against

1.Pre-established harmony requires God's infinite calculation of all states, which may be more explanatorily burdensome than real causal interaction.
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2.Our ordinary experience of causation involves genuine transmission of force; dismissing this as mere appearance requires strong justification beyond metaphysical principles.
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3.Leibniz himself retained causal language and distinction between real and apparent causation, suggesting influx theory explains something substantive about degrees of reality.
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Key Terms

Causal influence(as used in philosophy of action): The ability to affect or bring about a result through some chain of events or actions.
Explanatorily idle(in philosophy): Unable to actually explain or account for something; basically doing no real work in solving a problem.
Leibniz / Leibnizian(The statement discusses Leibnizian metaphysics, which refers to Leibniz's philosophical system): Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was a 17th-century German philosopher who developed a unique theory about how different things in the universe interact with each other.
influx theory(Leibniz's critique of inter-substantial causation): A theory of causation according to which causal relations between substances are explained by something literally passing from one substance into another, requiring that the substances have parts through which this transfer occurs.
metaphysics(Hartshorne's naturalistic redefinition of metaphysics): On Hartshorne's view, the study not of realities beyond the physical, but of features of reality that are ubiquitous or that would exist in any possible world.
pre-established harmony(Leibniz's early career writings; introduced to resolve the tension between the independence of substances and the requirement that each represent the whole universe): A doctrine introduced on truth-theoretical grounds, holding that God, in his goodness and preference for a maximally harmonious world, has established that each substance truly represents all other substances in the universe, even though finite substances exist independently of one another.
substance(Spinoza's metaphysics; criteria include (i) necessity and (ii) self-subsistence): The fundamental existent that is wholly necessary and self-subsistent, not depending on anything else for its existence

Connections

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Causation1 linked Personal Identity1 linked

Influx theory posits causal powers crossing between substances, but Leibniz's su...Inter-substantial causation cannot be explained by influx theory, because Leibni...

Details

Type: claim
Perspectives: 2 (1 for, 1 against)
Edits: 1 edit