Naslov
The Mind-Body problem in the Theory of Natural Philosophy of Ruđer Josip Bošković.

Autori
Brassard, Francis

Izvornik
Prilozi za istraživanje hrvatske filozofske baštine (0350-2791) 45/2(90) (2019); 91-116

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Radovi u časopisima, članak, znanstveni

Ključne riječi
Ruđer Josip Bošković, Joseph Priestley, mind-body problem, monism, dualism, notion of the soul, structure of the material world.

Sažetak
The mind-body problem has been a major concern of philosophers. Since the time of the Renaissance, scientists dealing with the problems of the natural world also joined in the discussion. This article looks at the contributions of two important gures of 18th–century natural philosophy, namely Joseph Priestley and Ruđer Josip Bošković. It is a well-known fact that Priestley’s solution to this problem antagonized his colleague from Dubrovnik. Less known, however, are the religious or spiritual reasons why he used Bošković’s notion of unextended points of matter as the basis of his solution. After presenting these reasons and establishing their connections with a speci c set of presuppositions underlying monist systems of thought, the present article looks at Bošković’s own solution that assumes a dualistic view of human nature, a solution relying on his notions of forces relative to the distances between unextended points, center of gravity and compenetration as discussed in his Theoria philosophiae natu- ralis, redacta ad unicam legem virium in natura existentium (1763).

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

POVEZANOST RADA