Laws and Nature in Descartes and Spinoza

Michael LeBuffe (University of Otago)

I would like to draw your attention to the following online philosophy seminar series, hosting by the Center for International Philosophy at Beijing Normal University at Zhuhai this semester.

On October 23rd, 1pm China Standard Time, Michael LeBuffe (Otago), will be presenting a talk titled "Laws and Nature in Descartes and Spinoza."

Attendance is free.

Please register for the event by sending an email to [email protected] for the Zoom link and password.

Abstract:  A tradition associated with Aristotle, essentialism, emphasizes the effort to show how effects follow from laws distinctive of the thing in which they occur. A different tradition, which associates with the scientific revolution, unificationism, emphasizes the effort to show that nature conforms to laws because it is in some ways uniform. Descartes's modest unificationism and rejection of essentialism prompts a clear response in Spinoza. In his accounts of laws and nature in the Ethics, Spinoza defends exceptionless, detailed versions of essentialism and unificationism.

Bio: Michael LeBuffe (BA Princeton, PhD UC San Diego) is the Baier Chair of Early Modern Philosophy at the University of Otago. He is the author of three books: From Bondage to Freedom: Spinoza on Human Excellence (Oxford 2010), Spinoza on Reason (Oxford 2018), and Spinoza's Ethics: A Guide (Oxford 2023). Recent articles include "Citizens and States in Spinoza's Political Treatise," Mind (2021) and "Human Motivation in Leviathan," in the Critical Guide to Hobbes's Leviathan (Cambridge, forthcoming).

The respondent for the talk is Jinze Liu (Baoji University of Arts and Sciences).

The meeting time is the 23rd of October, 1pm China Standard Time [5am GMT, October 23rd]

Meeting time in other timezones:

• 6pm New Zealand Standard Time
• 7am Central European Summer Time
• 10pm Pacific Daylight Time (the day before)