Research

So far, I’ve mainly focused on Leibniz’s metaphysics and its relation to his theory of cognition and ethics. Currently, I’m working on a monograph on his attempt to provide the metaphysical foundations of the natural world based on the notion of force. Another project concerns early modern accounts of cognition and understanding, in particular in Descartes, Leibniz, and Spinoza. I am motivated by a long-term interest in the way many early modern thinkers (especially Leibniz and Spinoza) see their metaphysics and epistemologies as being in the service of defending a form of Aristotelian naturalist ethics.

Here are some of my recent papers:

”Leibniz’s Two Realms and the Final Cause as Activity.” In Henrik Lagerlund, Sylvain Roudaut, and Erik Åkerlund (eds.) The Mechanization of Nature between 1300 and 1700. Springer. Forthcoming.

”Leibniz and the Metaphysics of Powers.” Journal of the History of Philosophy 62:3, 2024. (Penultimate version.)

”Leibniz on Possibilia, Creation, and the Reality of Essences” (with Arto Repo and Valtteri Viljanen). Philosophers’ Imprint 23:17, 2023.

“Force, Motion, and Leibniz’s Argument from Successiveness.” Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie 103:4, 2021.

“Ideas and Reality in Descartes” (with Arto Repo). In Martina Reuter and Frans Svensson (eds.), Mind, Body, and Morality: New Perspectives on Descartes and Spinoza. London: Routledge, 2019.

“Leibniz on Primitive Concepts and Conceiving Reality” (with Arto Repo). In Hemmo Laiho and Arto Repo (eds.), De Natura Rerum. Scripta in honorem professoris Olli Koistinen sexagesimum annum complentis. Turku: University of Turku, 2016.