Conatus
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In the philosophy of Baruch Spinoza, conatus (; :wikt:conatus;
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
for "effort; endeavor; impulse, inclination, tendency; undertaking; striving") is an innate inclination of a thing to continue to exist and enhance itself. This ''thing'' may be mind, matter, or a combination of both, and is often associated with God's will in a pantheist view of nature. The ''conatus'' may refer to the instinctive ''will to live'' of living organisms or to various metaphysical theories of
motion In physics, motion is when an object changes its position with respect to a reference point in a given time. Motion is mathematically described in terms of displacement, distance, velocity, acceleration, speed, and frame of reference to an o ...
and
inertia Inertia is the natural tendency of objects in motion to stay in motion and objects at rest to stay at rest, unless a force causes the velocity to change. It is one of the fundamental principles in classical physics, and described by Isaac Newto ...
. Today, ''conatus'' is rarely used in the technical sense, since classical mechanics uses concepts such as
inertia Inertia is the natural tendency of objects in motion to stay in motion and objects at rest to stay at rest, unless a force causes the velocity to change. It is one of the fundamental principles in classical physics, and described by Isaac Newto ...
and
conservation of momentum In Newtonian mechanics, momentum (: momenta or momentums; more specifically linear momentum or translational momentum) is the product of the mass and velocity of an object. It is a vector quantity, possessing a magnitude and a direction. ...
that have superseded it. It has, however, been a notable influence on later thinkers such as
Arthur Schopenhauer Arthur Schopenhauer ( ; ; 22 February 1788 – 21 September 1860) was a German philosopher. He is known for his 1818 work ''The World as Will and Representation'' (expanded in 1844), which characterizes the Phenomenon, phenomenal world as ...
and
Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher. He began his career as a classical philology, classical philologist, turning to philosophy early in his academic career. In 1869, aged 24, Nietzsche bec ...
.


Definition and origin

The Latin '' cōnātus'' comes from the verb '' cōnor'', which is usually translated into English as, ''to endeavor''; used as an abstract noun, ''conatus'' is an innate inclination of a thing to continue to exist and enhance itself. Although the term is most central to Spinoza's philosophy, many other early modern philosophers including
René Descartes René Descartes ( , ; ; 31 March 1596 – 11 February 1650) was a French philosopher, scientist, and mathematician, widely considered a seminal figure in the emergence of modern philosophy and Modern science, science. Mathematics was paramou ...
,
Gottfried Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (or Leibnitz; – 14 November 1716) was a German polymath active as a mathematician, philosopher, scientist and diplomat who is credited, alongside Isaac Newton, Sir Isaac Newton, with the creation of calculus in ad ...
, and
Thomas Hobbes Thomas Hobbes ( ; 5 April 1588 – 4 December 1679) was an English philosopher, best known for his 1651 book ''Leviathan (Hobbes book), Leviathan'', in which he expounds an influential formulation of social contract theory. He is considered t ...
made significant contributions, each developing the term differently. Whereas the medieval Scholastic philosophers such as Jean Buridan developed a notion of ''impetus'' as a mysterious intrinsic property of things, René Descartes (1596–1650) developed a more modern, mechanistic concept of motion which he called the ''conatus.'' For Descartes, in contrast to Buridan, motion and rest are properties of the ''interactions'' of matter according to eternally fixed mechanical laws, not dispositions and intentions, nor as inherent properties or ''forces'' of things, but rather as a unifying, external characteristic of the physical universe itself. Descartes specifies two varieties of the ''conatus'': ''conatus a centro,'' or a theory of
gravity In physics, gravity (), also known as gravitation or a gravitational interaction, is a fundamental interaction, a mutual attraction between all massive particles. On Earth, gravity takes a slightly different meaning: the observed force b ...
and ''conatus recedendi'' which represents centrifugal forces. Descartes, in developing his First Law of Nature, also invokes the idea of a ''conatus se movendi'', or "''conatus'' of self-preservation", a generalization of the principle of
inertia Inertia is the natural tendency of objects in motion to stay in motion and objects at rest to stay at rest, unless a force causes the velocity to change. It is one of the fundamental principles in classical physics, and described by Isaac Newto ...
, which was formalized by
Isaac Newton Sir Isaac Newton () was an English polymath active as a mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author. Newton was a key figure in the Scientific Revolution and the Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment that followed ...
and made into the first of his three Laws of Motion fifty years after the death of Descartes.
Thomas Hobbes Thomas Hobbes ( ; 5 April 1588 – 4 December 1679) was an English philosopher, best known for his 1651 book ''Leviathan (Hobbes book), Leviathan'', in which he expounds an influential formulation of social contract theory. He is considered t ...
criticized previous definitions of ''conatus'' for failing to explain the origin of motion, defining ''conatus'' to be the infinitesimal unit at the ''beginning'' of motion: an inclination in a specified direction. Furthermore, Hobbes uses conatus to describe cognition functions in the mind, describing
emotion Emotions are physical and mental states brought on by neurophysiology, neurophysiological changes, variously associated with thoughts, feelings, behavior, behavioral responses, and a degree of pleasure or suffering, displeasure. There is ...
as the beginning of motion and the
will Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will ...
as the sum of all emotions, which forms the ''conatus'' of a body and its physical manifestation is the perceived "will to survive". In a notion similar that of Hobbes,
Gottfried Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (or Leibnitz; – 14 November 1716) was a German polymath active as a mathematician, philosopher, scientist and diplomat who is credited, alongside Isaac Newton, Sir Isaac Newton, with the creation of calculus in ad ...
differentiates between the ''conatus'' of the body and soul, primarily focusing however on the concept of a ''conatus'' of body in developing the principles of integral calculus to explain Zeno's paradoxes of motion. Leibniz later defines the term ''monadic conatus'', as the ''state of change'' through which his monads perpetually advance. This ''conatus'' is a sort of instantaneous or ''virtual'' motion that all things possess, even when they are static. Motion, meanwhile, is just the summation of all the ''conatuses'' that a thing has, along with the interactions of things. By summing an infinity of such ''conatuses'' (i.e., what is now called integration), Leibniz could measure the effect of a continuous force.


In Spinoza's philosophy

Conatus is a central theme in the philosophy of Benedict de Spinoza (1632–1677), which is derived from principles that Hobbes and Descartes developed. Contrary to most philosophers of his time, Spinoza rejects the dualistic assumption that mind, intentionality, ethics, and freedom are to be treated as things separate from the natural world of physical objects and events. One significant change he makes to Hobbes' theory is his belief that the ''conatus ad motum'' (''conatus'' to motion) is ''not'' mental, but material. Spinoza also uses ''conatus'' to refer to rudimentary concepts of
inertia Inertia is the natural tendency of objects in motion to stay in motion and objects at rest to stay at rest, unless a force causes the velocity to change. It is one of the fundamental principles in classical physics, and described by Isaac Newto ...
, as Descartes had earlier. According to Spinoza, "each thing, as far as it lies in itself, strives to persevere in its being" (''
Ethics Ethics is the philosophy, philosophical study of Morality, moral phenomena. Also called moral philosophy, it investigates Normativity, normative questions about what people ought to do or which behavior is morally right. Its main branches inclu ...
'', part 3, prop. 6). Since a thing cannot be destroyed without the action of external forces, motion and rest, too, exist indefinitely until disturbed. His goal is to provide a unified explanation of all these things within a naturalistic framework, man and nature must be unified under a consistent set of laws;
God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...
and
nature Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...
are one, and there is no
free will Free will is generally understood as the capacity or ability of people to (a) choice, choose between different possible courses of Action (philosophy), action, (b) exercise control over their actions in a way that is necessary for moral respon ...
. For example, an action is ''free'', for Spinoza, only if it arises from the essence and ''conatus'' of an entity. However, an action can still be free in the sense that it is not constrained or otherwise subject to external forces. Human beings are thus an integral part of nature. Spinoza explains seemingly irregular human behaviour as really ''natural'' and rational and motivated by this principle of the ''conatus''. Some have argued that the ''conatus'' consists of happiness and the perpetual drive toward perfection. Conversely, a person is saddened by anything that opposes his ''conatus.'' Others have associated ''desire'', a primary affect, with the ''conatus'' principle of Spinoza. Desire is then controlled by the other affects, pleasure and pain, and thus the ''conatus'' strives towards that which causes joy and avoids that which produces pain.


Later usages and related concepts

After the development of
classical mechanics Classical mechanics is a Theoretical physics, physical theory describing the motion of objects such as projectiles, parts of Machine (mechanical), machinery, spacecraft, planets, stars, and galaxies. The development of classical mechanics inv ...
, the concept of a ''conatus,'' in the sense used by philosophers other than Spinoza, an intrinsic property of all physical bodies, was largely superseded by the principles of
inertia Inertia is the natural tendency of objects in motion to stay in motion and objects at rest to stay at rest, unless a force causes the velocity to change. It is one of the fundamental principles in classical physics, and described by Isaac Newto ...
and
conservation of momentum In Newtonian mechanics, momentum (: momenta or momentums; more specifically linear momentum or translational momentum) is the product of the mass and velocity of an object. It is a vector quantity, possessing a magnitude and a direction. ...
. Similarly, ''Conatus recendendi'' became centrifugal force, and ''conatus a centro'' became
gravity In physics, gravity (), also known as gravitation or a gravitational interaction, is a fundamental interaction, a mutual attraction between all massive particles. On Earth, gravity takes a slightly different meaning: the observed force b ...
. However, Giambattista Vico, inspired by Neoplatonism, explicitly rejected the principle of inertia and the laws of motion of the new physics. For him, ''conatus'' was the essence of human
society A society () is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. ...
, and also, in a more traditional, hylozoistic sense, as the generating power of movement which pervades all of nature, which was composed neither of atoms, as in the dominant view, nor of extension, as in Descartes, but of ''metaphysical points'' animated by a ''conatus'' principle provoked by God.
Arthur Schopenhauer Arthur Schopenhauer ( ; ; 22 February 1788 – 21 September 1860) was a German philosopher. He is known for his 1818 work ''The World as Will and Representation'' (expanded in 1844), which characterizes the Phenomenon, phenomenal world as ...
(1788–1860) developed a principle notably similar to that of Spinoza's ''conatus''. This principle, ''Wille zum Leben'', or of a "Will to Live", described the specific phenomenon of an organism's self-preservation instinct. Schopenhauer qualified this, however, by suggesting that the Will to Live is not limited in duration, but rather, "the will wills absolutely and for all time", across generations. Rejecting the primacy of Schopenhauer's Will to Live,
Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher. He began his career as a classical philology, classical philologist, turning to philosophy early in his academic career. In 1869, aged 24, Nietzsche bec ...
(1844–1900) developed a separate principle the Will to Power, which comes out of a rejection of such notions of self-preservation. In
systems theory Systems theory is the Transdisciplinarity, transdisciplinary study of systems, i.e. cohesive groups of interrelated, interdependent components that can be natural or artificial. Every system has causal boundaries, is influenced by its context, de ...
, the Spinozistic conception of a ''conatus'' has been related to modern theories of autopoiesis in biological systems. However, the scope of the idea is definitely narrower today, being explained in terms of chemistry and neurology where, before, it was a matter of metaphysics and theurgy.


See also

* Conation


Notes


References

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


Further reading

* * * * {{Authority control Baruch Spinoza Metaphysical properties Concepts in the philosophy of mind Determinism Mental processes Panpsychism Psychological concepts Systems theory