Conatus: REVISED EDITION by Tom Wallace - HTML preview

C O N A T U S

The descriptions of philosophical theories that I provide in the book are necessarily limited to my reading around the subject. Where the book reaches into areas of ‘embodied cognition’ and the like, then of course the further domains of psychology and neurology are being encroached upon. So, once again, I offer only speculations based on my own reading and thinking.

In all these subjects there are a great many ‘isms’, and sometimes what is meant by a particular ‘ism’ can be different, depending on whose interpretation is accepted and the times in which they lived. I have done my best to clarify the various terms, and included a good number of the main ones in the book. A further edition may, however, endeavour to tell the same story with a minimum of ‘isms’! Also, some words that are important to the text have changed their meanings over time, or have two or more meanings that require clarification. Four words, in particular, which are essential to the text, fall into this category. These are: Substance, Essence, Form and Substrate. In the text I endeavour to clarify their meanings such that they help in telling the story I’m looking to tell. But these words, and several others, are elusive, and the reader may find them explained somewhat differently elsewhere.

As in all of my books, none of the views expressed herein are original to me. All I have done is to try to arrange other people’s ideas in an orderly way, and in a way which I hope will be informative and helpful.

Having said that, I have allowed myself to speculate a little and to consider how the

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