Neste artigo, acompanha-se a formulação do projeto filosófico de Merleau-Ponty em suas primeiras obras, frisando a necessária reforma da fenomenologia husserliana para que os temas existenciais pudessem ser contemplados pela investigação. Porém, uma vez centrada a feno-menologia nas vivências particulares, surge o problema da validade geral das suas teses, cuja resolução pede a extensão da necessidade até a experiência concreta.In this article, I discuss the formulation of Merleau-Ponty’s philosophical project in his early writings and stress the necessary reform of the (...) husserlian phenomenology in order to embrace existential themes. However, once the phenomenology is centered in the particularly experiences, the problem of the general validity of its thesis arises, and the solution requires the expansion of the necessity to the concrete experience. (shrink)

resumo Neste artigo, pre t e ndemos mostrar como a concepção de Merleau- Po nty acerca das relações ent re sujeito perceptivo e mu ndo muda no decorrer de sua obra. Em seu livro Fenomenologia da Percepção, public a do em 1945, Merleau- Ponty atribui a tal sujeito a capacida de de assimilar ade q ua da mente o ser do mu ndo. No ent a nto, no início dos ano s cinqüenta, seu estudo da obra do psicólogo Kurt Koffka (...) explicita alguns resultados incompatíveis com a atribuição de tal capacida de ao sujeito. Por fim, em O Visível e o Invisível , Merleau-Ponty reconhece que as capacidades de assimilação perceptiva do ser do mundo possuem limitações. palavras-chave percepção; mundo percebido; mundo geográfico; fé perceptiva; ser. (shrink)

In this article are discussed some problems raised by T. S. Rukmani regarding the Yogasūtra. According to Rukmani, yoga is not a coherent logical system. After stating the general goals of the yoga system, interpretations of some passages of the Yogasūtra are formulated, and the defense is given that one must at least acknowledge the necessity of more exegetical investigation before judging the logical incoherence of the text. Finally, the problematic doctrine of living liberation in Yogasūtra is exposed.

O presente artigo constitui, antes de mais, uma exposição da tentativa feita por Maurice Merleau-Ponty de sistematização de um método psicológico convergente com algumas das principais metas estabelecidas pela Fenomenologia de inspiração husserliana. Constatando de que modo o autor da Fenomenologia da Percepção considera os diversos âmbitos da cultura, a começar pela arte e pela psicanálise, como indicadores da decadência do cartesianismo, o artigo analisa o estatuto da ciência justamente como uma das esferas culturais das quais é possível extrair categorias (...) que exprimam de forma mais precisa e rigorosa o real, mostrando-se de que modo as investigações científicas são indispensáveis para uma identificação dos temas a serem filosoficamente tratados, pois os dados obtidos por tais pesquisas são imprescindíveis para o trabalho filosófico enquanto tal Neste sentido, o autor propõe uma relação entre Filosofia e Ciência que não é mais uma relação de hierarquização, tal como defendia Husserl, mas sim uma de complementaridade, tal como defendia Bergson. Com efeito, postulando-se a não necessidade de fragmentar o real para que se legitime um tal acordo, ou seja, dado que a cisão entre o espiritual e o material não pode mais ser mantida, o artigo sublinha a absoluta necessidade de que Filosofia e Ciência se encontrem. Por outras palavras, a integração entre ambas não depende de que uma e outra se refiram à mesma, e justa, metade da realidade, mas tão-somente que cada uma delas remeta para a mesma camada fenomenal, seja para descrever cientificamente os organismos em seu contacto com o meio seja para expor filosoficamente a nova ontologia ali contida. Em suma, o artigo mostra até que ponto, apesar de realizar a intenção bergsoniana de integrar explicação quantitativa e descrição qualitativa e assimilar a crítica de Husserl ao objectivismo, o método fenomenoló-gico não esgota a tarefa ontológica da filosofia. /// The present article analyzes de attempt made by Maurice Merleau-Ponty in order to systematize a psychological method convergent with some of the main goals established by the phenomenological movement issued from HusserL Taking into account the way in which the author of the Phenomenology of Perception considers the different realms of the cultural sphere, beginning with art and psychoanalysis, as special indicators of cartesianisms decadence, the article analyses the statute of science inasmuch as it is one of the cultural spheres from which it is possible to extract the categories that express in a more precise and rigorous way the real, whereby it is shown in what way scientific research is indispensable for an identification of the themes to be treated philosophically. In this sense, the author proposes a relation between Philosophy and Science that is no more one of hierarchysation, as defended by Husserl, but one of complementarity, such as defended by Bergson. By postulating that there is no longer a necessity for a fragmentation of the real so that such an accord between Philosophy and Science could be reached, and this precisely since there is no longer a way of maintaining a division between the spiritual and the material, the article underlines the necessity that Philosophy and Science must come together. In other words, the integration between the Wo no longer depends of the fact that one and the other refer to the same portion of the real, but only of the capacity that each one of them has of referring to the same set of phenomena, being that in order to achieve a scientific description of organisms in contact with the environment or being that in order to advance a philosophical exploration of the new ontology in it contained. Above all, the article shows the measure in which, regardless of the fact that the methodological approach of phenomenology realizes the bergsonian intention of an integration of quantitative explanation and qualitative description, it. cannot properly be said that such method exhausts the ontological task of Philosophy. (shrink)

Anthropology as Counter-Science. A Merleau-Pontyan approachThe author tries to show that the conception of the anthropology as counter-science, presented by Foucault (inspired by Lévi-Strauss), is limited to dissolve some naïve representations of subjectivity, and that the critical potential of this notion could be extended to the current theoretical conceptions (section 1). The author holds that the limited notion of contra-science can be found in the very Lévi-Strauss’ works, and this is made clear by comparison with Edmund Husserl’s works (sections 2-3). (...) After that, the author tries to develop a larger notion of counter-science, based on Merleau-Ponty’s criticisms to Lévi-Strauss (section 4). The author uses the subject of acupuncture’s efficacy as an example of this larger notion of counter-science.L’antropologia come contro-scienza. Un approccio merleau-pontyanoIntendiamo mostrare come la concezione dell’antropologia in quanto contro-scienza presentata da Foucault (ispirata dalle opere di Lévi-Strauss) si limiti a smontare alcune rappresentazioni ingenue della soggettività, e che il potenziale critico di questa nozione potrebbe invece essere esteso alle concezioni teoriche in vigore (sezione 1). Sosteniamo che questa nozione limitata di contro-scienza può essere trovata nell’opera di Lévi-Strauss stesso, cosa che emerge con chiarezza nel confronto con alcuni testi di Edmund Husserl (sezioni 2-3). Cerchiamo quindi di sviluppare una più ampia nozione di controscienza antropologica, che si basa sulle posizioni critiche di Merleau-Ponty riguardo a Lévi-Strauss (sezione 4). Il tema dell’efficacitá dell’agopuntura è utilizato come esempio di questa nozione ampliata di contro-scienza. (shrink)

Anthropology as Counter-Science. A Merleau-Pontyan approachThe author tries to show that the conception of the anthropology as counter-science, presented by Foucault (inspired by Lévi-Strauss), is limited to dissolve some naïve representations of subjectivity, and that the critical potential of this notion could be extended to the current theoretical conceptions (section 1). The author holds that the limited notion of contra-science can be found in the very Lévi-Strauss’ works, and this is made clear by comparison with Edmund Husserl’s works (sections 2-3). (...) After that, the author tries to develop a larger notion of counter-science, based on Merleau-Ponty’s criticisms to Lévi-Strauss (section 4). The author uses the subject of acupuncture’s efficacy as an example of this larger notion of counter-science.L’antropologia come contro-scienza. Un approccio merleau-pontyanoIntendiamo mostrare come la concezione dell’antropologia in quanto contro-scienza presentata da Foucault (ispirata dalle opere di Lévi-Strauss) si limiti a smontare alcune rappresentazioni ingenue della soggettività, e che il potenziale critico di questa nozione potrebbe invece essere esteso alle concezioni teoriche in vigore (sezione 1). Sosteniamo che questa nozione limitata di contro-scienza può essere trovata nell’opera di Lévi-Strauss stesso, cosa che emerge con chiarezza nel confronto con alcuni testi di Edmund Husserl (sezioni 2-3). Cerchiamo quindi di sviluppare una più ampia nozione di controscienza antropologica, che si basa sulle posizioni critiche di Merleau-Ponty riguardo a Lévi-Strauss (sezione 4). Il tema dell’efficacitá dell’agopuntura è utilizato come esempio di questa nozione ampliata di contro-scienza. (shrink)

Neste texto, retomamos a avaliação de Michel Haar segundo a qual o projeto ontológico de Merleau-Ponty redundaria em uma metafísica. A fim de tornar tal avaliação mais severa, propomos um outro critério, de inspiração kantiana, conforme o qual a obra de Merleau-Ponty também poderia ser classificada como metafísica. Em seguida, expomos as estratégias filosóficas de Merleau-Ponty com base nas quais julgamos que conforme nenhum desses dois critérios MerleauPonty constitui um discurso metafísico.

This text intends to value the dimension of the passivity theme in some of the Merleau-Ponty's works. Beginning with the Husserl's analysis, the text follows the merleau-pontyan's reflexion about the meaning spontaneous organization in the body's life and in the exercise of speeching.Neste texto, tenta-se avaliar a dimensão do tema da passividade em algumas obras de Merleau-Ponty. Parte-se da análise de Husserl e acompanha-se a reflexão merleau-pontyana sobre a organização espontânea do sentido na vida do corpo e no exercício da (...) fala. (shrink)

Neste texto, tenta-se avaliar a dimensão do tema da passividade em algumas obras de Merleau-Ponty. Parte-se da análise de Husserl e acompanha-se a reflexão merleau-pontyana sobre a organização espontânea do sentido na vida do corpo e no exercício da fala.

L’auteur essaie de montrer que le paradigme anthropologique de l’incarnation, présenté par Thomas Csordas sous l’inspiration de Merleau-Ponty, entre autres, ne trouve pas de soutien dans la Phénoménologie de la perception, mais dans les textes intermédiaires de Merleau-Ponty . En plus, l’auteur propose que l’idée de perception informée culturellement, contenue dans ces textes, permet d’assouplir l’opposition entre conceptualistes et non-conceptualistes dans le débat contemporain sur la perception .The author tries to show that the anthropological paradigm of embodiment, put forward by (...) Thomas Csordas, who drew his inspiration from Merleau-Ponty among others, is not supported by Phenomenology of Perception but by the intermediate texts from Merleau-Ponty . In addition, the author proposes that the idea of culturally informed perception, comprised in such texts, allows us to minimize the opposition between conceptualists and non conceptualists in the contemporary debate on perception. (shrink)

O tema principal deste trabalho é a análise de contradições da política brasileira contemporânea à luz da Teoria Crítica.

This paper develops a non-relativist version of contextualism about knowledge. It is argued that a plausible contextualism must take into account three features of our practice of attributing knowledge: (1) knowledge-attributions follow a default-and-challenge pattern; (2) there are preconditions for a belief's enjoying the status of being justified by default (e.g. being orthodox); and (3) for an error-possibility to be a serious challenge, there has to be positive evidence that the possibility might be realized in the given situation. It is (...) argued that standard "semantic" versions of contextualism (e.g. those of Lewis, Cohen, DeRose) fail to take these features into account, which makes them overly hospitable to the sceptic, and that Williams' version of contextualism, although incorporating (1), fails to do justice to (2) and (3). According to the contextualism developed here, although epistemic standards vary with the context, the truth-value of particular knowledge-attributions does not. Contexts here are understood as being constituted by two elements: an epistemic practice (a rule-governed social practice such as a scientific discipline, the law, a craft etc., in which knowledge-claims are evaluated according to specific standards) and the "facts of the matter" (i.e. those facts which, together with the epistemic standards in question, determine which error-possibilities are relevant and thus have to be eliminated for a knowledge-claim to be true). If there are several epistemic practices, and thus several contexts, in which a knowledge-claim can be evaluated, it is the "strictest" practice that counts. In this way, the counterintuitive consequence of other versions of contextualism that the same knowledge-claim can be true in one context, but false in another, can be avoided. At the same time, scepticism can be resisted since even in the "strictest" epistemic practices, error-possibilities become relevant only when backed by positive evidence that they might in fact obtain. (shrink)

Introduction Context: In Portugal assisted death was approved in February 2020 by the Parliament, although the law is not yet in force. Objectives To find out what doctors think about those practices. Methods A link to a questionnaire was sent by email three times, at intervals of one week, to the doctors registered in the Northern Section of the Portuguese Medical Association, before the Parliamentary approval. Results The questionnaire was returned by 1148 physicians. A minority of doctors would practice a (...) form of assisted death under the present law or if it was legalized, but a higher percentage think that euthanasia should be legalized, and more would like to have that option if they themselves were in a terminal phase of a disease. Religion has a strong influence on the attitudes of doctors, so too does their contact with patients in a terminal phase, as doctors who deal with more patients with far advanced diseases are more likely to be unfavorable to assisted death. On the other hand, younger doctors are more in favor of these practices. Conclusion The small percentage of questionnaires sent back is a weakness in this study and casts doubts on the generalizability of the conclusions. However, this is, so far, the best approximation to the opinions of Portuguese doctors on assisted death. (shrink)

Can you master the ideas of Plato, Kant, Nietzsche and Sartre? What does 'I think, therefore I am' really mean? Do you know the arguments for and against the existence of god? And what do the great philosophers tell us about knowledge and truth, good and evil? Packed with bite-sized briefings, shortcuts and bluffs, Get Smart: Philosophy demystifies 50 key philosophical concepts and provides you with all you need to speak out about the very biggest ideas.

Quick, accessible, compact guide to understanding key political concepts. Contents include: Liberty, Justice, Equality, Human rights, Social contract, Democracy, Monarchy, Anarchism, Capitalism, Socialism, Nationalism and Globalisation.

Philosophy in Minutes distils 200 of the most important philosophical ideas into easily digestible, bite-sized sections. The core information for every topic - including debates such as the role of philosophy in science and religion, key thinkers from Aristotle to Marx, and introductions to morality and ethics - is explained in straightforward language, using illustrations to make the concepts easy to understand and remember. Whether you are perplexed by existentialism or pondering the notion of free will, this accessible small-format book (...) will help any reader to quickly grasp the basics of this highly nuanced subject. Chapters include: Truth and logic, Marxism, Communism and Socialism, Ontology, Philosophy and literature, Existence of God, Feminist theory, Consciousness, The future of philosophy. (shrink)

Demystifies complex philosophical ideas and debates in a comprehensive format that introduces the major theories of such great philosophers as Socrates, Aristotle, Plato, Friedrich Nietzsche, Epicurus, and Thomas Aquinas.

As health policy-makers around the world seek to make progress towards universal health coverage, they must navigate between two important ethical imperatives: to set national spending priorities fairly and efficiently; and to safeguard the right to health. These imperatives can conflict, leading some to conclude that rights-based approaches present a disruptive influence on health policy, hindering states’ efforts to set priorities fairly and efficiently. Here, we challenge this perception. We argue first that these points of tension stem largely from inadequate (...) interpretations of the aims of priority setting as well as the right to health. We then discuss various ways in which the right to health complements traditional concerns of priority setting and vice versa. Finally, we set out a three-step process by which policy-makers may navigate the ethical and legal considerations at play. (shrink)

Researchers have long suspected that grapheme-color synaesthesia is useful, but research on its utility has so far focused primarily on episodic memory and perceptual discrimination. Here we ask whether it can be harnessed during rule-based Category learning. Participants learned through trial and error to classify grapheme pairs that were organized into categories on the basis of their associated synaesthetic colors. The performance of synaesthetes was similar to non-synaesthetes viewing graphemes that were physically colored in the same way. Specifically, synaesthetes learned (...) to categorize stimuli effectively, they were able to transfer this learning to novel stimuli, and they falsely recognized grapheme-pair foils, all like non-synaesthetes viewing colored graphemes. These findings demonstrate that synaesthesia can be exploited when learning the kind of material taught in many classroom settings. (shrink)

Com base na crítica que Hume faz ao argumento do desígnio, especialmente nas partes 10 e 11 dos Diálogos sobre a Religião Natural, meu objetivo neste artigo é, a partir de uma análise da relação entre a existência do mal no mundo e a suposta existência de uma divindade possuidora dos atributos tradicionais do teísmo, defender a tese segundo a qual o tratamento que Hume dá ao problema do mal corresponde, digamos assim, à cartada final – o último e decisivo (...) recurso que Philo personagem que articula essa crítica) aciona para mostrar que o argumento do desígnio não fornece bases suficientemente sólidas e consistentes para dar suporte à crença na existência de um Deus maximamente poderoso, justo e benevolente; e que, portanto, a existência do mal no mundo tem uma força argumentativa tal que a improbabilidade da existência de Deus é maior do que com base nos argumentos apresentados nas partes 2 a 8 dos Diálogos. Isso significa que eu tomo aqui o problema do mal como o maior problema para o teísta experimental – cuja argumentação pretende provar a existência de Deus a partir da observação dos fenômenos do mundo. (shrink)

Many of Margaret Cavendish’s criticisms of Thomas Hobbes in the Philosophical Letters (1664) relate to the disorder and damage that she holds would result if Hobbesian pressure were the cause of visual perception. In this paper, I argue that her “two men” thought experiment in Letter IV is aimed at a different goal: to show the explanatory potency of her account. First, I connect Cavendish’s view of visual perception as “patterning” to the “two men” thought experiment in Letter IV. Second, (...) I provide a potential reply on Hobbes’s behalf that appeals to physiological differences between perceivers’ sense organs, drawing upon Hobbes’s optics in De homine. Third, I argue that such a reply would misunderstand Cavendish’s objective of showing the limited explanatory resources available in understanding visual perception as pressing when compared to her view of visual perception as patterning. (shrink)

Estudo comparado sobre o tratamento dado à reprodução humana assistida no direito do Brasil, Estados Unidos, Portugal, Espanha e Itália.

Kant’s revolutionary new approach to philosophy was accompanied by the introduction of a largely novel terminology. With the Kant-Lexikon, a lexical reference gives the modern reader access to his work on the basis of present-day editions and takes into account 20th century and contemporary research and advances in lexicology. The Kant-Lexikon includes 2395 entries authored by 221 scholars.

In the Critique of Pure Reason, Kant famously criticizes traditional metaphysics and its proofs of immortality, free will and God's existence. What is often overlooked is that Kant also explains why rational beings must ask metaphysical questions about 'unconditioned' objects such as souls, uncaused causes or God, and why answers to these questions will appear rationally compelling to them. In this book, Marcus Willaschek reconstructs and defends Kant's account of the rational sources of metaphysics. After carefully explaining Kant's conceptions (...) of reason and metaphysics, he offers detailed interpretations of the relevant passages from the Critique of Pure Reason in which Kant explains why reason seeks 'the unconditioned'. Willaschek offers a novel interpretation of the Transcendental Dialectic, pointing up its 'positive' side, while at the same time it uncovers a highly original account of metaphysical thinking that will be relevant to contemporary philosophical debates. (shrink)

1. Hume e a Magna Carta: em torno do círculo da justiça, Maria Isabel Limongi; 2. Hume e o problema da justificação da resistência ao governo, Stephanie Hamdan Zahreddine; 3 O surgimento dos costumes da sociedade comercial e as paixões do trabalho, Pedro Vianna da Costa e Faria; 4. O sentido da crença: suas funções epistêmicas e implicações para a teoria política de Hume, Lilian Piraine Laranja; 5. O Status do Fideísmo na Crítica de Hume à Religião Natural, Marília Côrtes (...) de Ferraz; 6. Da imaterialidade da alma: a desconstrução mais incisiva de Hume de um pressuposto metafísico, Marcos César Seneda; 7. A “irresistibilidade” e a “inevitabilidade” das crenças naturais e o caráter normativo da epistemologia de Hume, Claudiney José de Sousa; 8. Filosofia e vida comum na epistemologia de Hume, Marcos Fonseca Ribeiro Balieiro; 9. Hume e o relativismo moral, Flávio Zimmermann; 10. Hume e a vivacidade das crenças morais, André Luiz Olivier da Silva; 11. Virtudes sociais e refinamento na filosofia moral de David Hume, Andreh Sabino Ribeiro; 12. O movimento razão-crença na interpretação da teoria da motivação de Hume, Franco Nero Antunes Soares; 13. Sentimentos e Normatividade em David Hume segundo Annette Baier, Giovani Lunardi; 14. Simpatia e aprovação moral da justiça na filosofia de David Hume, Denize Carolina da Cunha & Nivaldo Machado; 15. Do eu como feixe de percepções ao eu das paixões: Hume e a identidade pessoal no Tratado, Susie Kovalczyk dos Santos; 16. Imaginação em Hobbes e Hume: cadeias mentais reguladas e princípios de associação, Andrea Cachel; 17. Hume e o princípio fundamental da filosofia moderna, Rafael Bittencourt Santos; 18. A conexão necessária entre Hume e Malebranche, Bruna Frascolla; 19. Realismo ontológico e antirrealismo epistemológico na problemática sobre o mundo externo em Hume, Leandro Hollanda; 20. Uma possível inversão kantiana da tese humeana da inércia da razão, Carlos Eduardo Moreno Pires; Nota sobre João Paulo Monteiro, Rolf Nelson Kuntz. (shrink)

Visual thinking -- visual imagination or perception of diagrams and symbol arrays, and mental operations on them -- is omnipresent in mathematics. Is this visual thinking merely a psychological aid, facilitating grasp of what is gathered by other means? Or does it also have epistemological functions, as a means of discovery, understanding, and even proof? By examining the many kinds of visual representation in mathematics and the diverse ways in which they are used, Marcus Giaquinto argues that visual thinking (...) in mathematics is rarely just a superfluous aid; it usually has epistemological value, often as a means of discovery. Drawing from philosophical work on the nature of concepts and from empirical studies of visual perception, mental imagery, and numerical cognition, Giaquinto explores a major source of our grasp of mathematics, using examples from basic geometry, arithmetic, algebra, and real analysis. He shows how we can discern abstract general truths by means of specific images, how synthetic a priori knowledge is possible, and how visual means can help us grasp abstract structures. Visual Thinking in Mathematics reopens the investigation of earlier thinkers from Plato to Kant into the nature and epistemology of an individual's basic mathematical beliefs and abilities, in the new light shed by the maturing cognitive sciences. Clear and concise throughout, it will appeal to scholars and students of philosophy, mathematics, and psychology, as well as anyone with an interest in mathematical thinking. (shrink)

The main goal of this work is to place the Regional History of Education into the broader context of general history and to create a theoretical structure that includes its main approaches and characteristics while avoiding the frequent confusions and oversights with which it is often associated. Our outline of regional history alludes to its conceptual foundations, defines the object of its analysis and also identifies the convergence of factors that shape this area of study, such as genealogy, multicentrism, comparison (...) and social synthesis. Once these different aspects have been described it will be easier to understand that the past is not only a dependent variable of time but also, to a great degree, of space (understood as a cornerstone of human life and of the social relations that shape and give meaning to the past, present and future). (shrink)

This book treats modal logic as a theory, with several subtheories, such as completeness theory, correspondence theory, duality theory and transfer theory and is intended as a course in modal logic for students who have had prior contact with modal logic and who wish to study it more deeply. It presupposes training in mathematical or logic. Very little specific knowledge is presupposed, most results which are needed are proved in this book.

Following in a psychological and musicological tradition beginning with Leonard Meyer, and continuing through David Huron, we present a functional, cognitive account of the phenomenon of expectation in music, grounded in computational, probabilistic modeling. We summarize a range of evidence for this approach, from psychology, neuroscience, musicology, linguistics, and creativity studies, and argue that simulating expectation is an important part of understanding a broad range of human faculties, in music and beyond.

All the notes to the Farquharson translation, amplifying the twelve books of the "Meditations," are included in this volume.

The possibility that autonomous weapons will be deployed on the battlefields of the future raises the challenge of determining who can be held responsible for how these weapons act. Robert Sparrow has argued that it would be impossible to attribute responsibility for autonomous robots' actions to their creators, their commanders, or the robots themselves. This essay reaches a much different conclusion. It argues that the problem of determining responsibility for autonomous robots can be solved by addressing it within the context (...) of the military chain of command. The military hierarchy is a system of distributing responsibility between decision makers on different levels and constraining autonomy. If autonomous weapons are employed as agents operating within this system, then responsibility for their actions can be attributed to their creators and their civilian and military superiors. (shrink)

Contends that Freud's theory of civilization is substantially sociological, and examines the philosophical and sociological implications of key Freudian ...

Marcus Aurelius' Meditations is a private notebook of philosophical reflections with universal significance. Drawing on Stoic philosophy, Marcus confronts challenges that affect us all in our struggle to live meaningful lives. This edition includes a selection of Marcus' correspondence with his tutor Fronto which complements the Meditations.

Marcus Giaquinto tells the compelling story of one of the great intellectual adventures of the modern era: the attempt to find firm foundations for mathematics. From the late nineteenth century to the present day, this project has stimulated some of the most original and influential work in logic and philosophy.

The status of the laws of nature in Hobbes’s Leviathan has been a continual point of disagreement among scholars. Many agree that since Hobbes claims that civil philosophy is a science, the answer lies in an understanding of the nature of Hobbesian science more generally. In this paper, I argue that Hobbes’s view of the construction of geometrical figures sheds light upon the status of the laws of nature. In short, I claim that the laws play the same role as (...) the component parts – what Hobbes calls the “cause” – of geometrical figures. To make this argument, I show that in both geometry and civil philosophy, Hobbes proceeds by a method of synthetic demonstration as follows: 1) offering a thought experiment by privation; 2) providing definitions by explication of “simple conceptions” within the thought experiment; and 3) formulating generative definitions by making use of those definitions by explication. In just the same way that Hobbes says that the geometer should “put together” the parts of a square to learn its cause, I argue that the laws of nature are the cause of peace. (shrink)