Activity, Inertia and Will: The Anti-Spinozist Interpretation of Frans Hemsterhuis’s Aristée ou de la Divinité

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to shed light on the relevance of Frans Hemster­huis’ dialogue Aristée ou de la divinité to the Spinozastreit. It will be analysed the anti-Spinozist interpretation of the dialogue, which is provided by Jacobi in the Schriften zum Spinozastreit. Indeed, through the hemsterhuisian notion of activité and inertie, Jacobi tries to validate the ex­istence of a free will and of final causes in contrast with Spinoza’s system.