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A defesa de Samuel Clarke do espaço como propriedade de deus na Correspondência com G. W. Leibniz

Vinícius França Freitas
Universidade Federal do ABC, São Bernardo do Campo, Brasil.

Publicado 2025-09-24

Palavras-chave

  • G. W. Leibniz,
  • Samuel Clarke,
  • Space,
  • Metaphysics
  • G. W. Leibniz,
  • Samuel Clarke,
  • Espaço,
  • Metafísica

Resumo

O artigo discute a Correspondência entre G. W. Leibniz e Samuel Clarke. Mais especificamente, discutem-se as objeções leibnizianas à tese defendida por Clarke de que o espaço é uma propriedade de Deus e as consequentes respostas do filósofo inglês. Primeiramente, pretende-se explicar o que significa, para Clarke, o espaço como uma ‘sequela de Deus’. Em seguida, discute-se o caráter fundamental do princípio clarkiano segundo o qual o espaço é ontologicamente indivisível. A partir deste princípio, defende-se que o filósofo inglês é capaz de responder a duas das objeções propostas por Leibniz: que Clarke ameaça a simplicidade divina e torna Deus um Ser extenso. Ademais, defende-se que o princípio da indivisibilidade do espaço pode ser um ponto de apoio seguro para se questionar a visão de René Descartes que estabelece que as partes finitas do espaço são propriedades dos corpos extensos.

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