Leibniz and the Conciliarists on Natural Motion and the Legacy of Ancient Philosophy

Abstract

In this paper I argue that the common narrative on 17th century science that uses the concept of scientific revolution to establish a strong distinction between ancient and modern philosophy has prevented the historiographical tradition to recognize the true role of the German syncretic philosophy, which significantly influenced Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz in the development of his concept of natural inertia and vis viva. I argue instead that their views cannot be described as syncretic in a negative way, since their development shows the level of advancement of that debate, which was already highlighting some limits of modern mechanism.