Yemima Ben-Menahem
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780691174938
- eISBN:
- 9781400889297
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691174938.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
This chapter examines the place of the “least action” principle in the causal family and its role in in modern science's transition from teleology to causality. It first provides an overview of the ...
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This chapter examines the place of the “least action” principle in the causal family and its role in in modern science's transition from teleology to causality. It first provides an overview of the principle of sufficient reason, which illustrates the intricate relations between reasons and causes in the seventeenth theory, along with various conceptions of God proposed by thinkers such as Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Baruch Spinoza, Isaac Newton, and René Descartes. The chapter then considers the work of Leonhard Euler and Pierre-Louis Moreau de Maupertuis on the least action principle. Finally, it analyzes the least action principle's reappearance in the probabilistic context of quantum mechanics, taking into account Richard Feynman's ingenious solution to the long-standing philosophical problem of teleology in physics.Less
This chapter examines the place of the “least action” principle in the causal family and its role in in modern science's transition from teleology to causality. It first provides an overview of the principle of sufficient reason, which illustrates the intricate relations between reasons and causes in the seventeenth theory, along with various conceptions of God proposed by thinkers such as Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Baruch Spinoza, Isaac Newton, and René Descartes. The chapter then considers the work of Leonhard Euler and Pierre-Louis Moreau de Maupertuis on the least action principle. Finally, it analyzes the least action principle's reappearance in the probabilistic context of quantum mechanics, taking into account Richard Feynman's ingenious solution to the long-standing philosophical problem of teleology in physics.
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226793603
- eISBN:
- 9780226793627
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226793627.003.0011
- Subject:
- History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
Maupertuis tried to maintain his cordial relations with the Prussian king, promising him that his absence from Berlin was only temporary, while simultaneously exploring other solutions to his dilemma ...
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Maupertuis tried to maintain his cordial relations with the Prussian king, promising him that his absence from Berlin was only temporary, while simultaneously exploring other solutions to his dilemma that would allow him to remain in France. Euler's letters from this period contain a startling mixture of news about military campaigns, reports of war-induced austerity in Berlin, scientific news, and prosaic reports of the weekly proceedings at the Academy. Theories, speculations, laws, and empirical evidence are all human productions, with a history, constrained by the limitations of the human senses and intelligence. Maupertuis found himself buffeted by political and military events, and torn by competing personal loyalties. Maupertuis's ambitions extended beyond the structured institutions of science, while remaining firmly grounded in elite bodies.Less
Maupertuis tried to maintain his cordial relations with the Prussian king, promising him that his absence from Berlin was only temporary, while simultaneously exploring other solutions to his dilemma that would allow him to remain in France. Euler's letters from this period contain a startling mixture of news about military campaigns, reports of war-induced austerity in Berlin, scientific news, and prosaic reports of the weekly proceedings at the Academy. Theories, speculations, laws, and empirical evidence are all human productions, with a history, constrained by the limitations of the human senses and intelligence. Maupertuis found himself buffeted by political and military events, and torn by competing personal loyalties. Maupertuis's ambitions extended beyond the structured institutions of science, while remaining firmly grounded in elite bodies.
