Active force and relations between substances in the gedanken von der wahren Schätzung der lebendingen Kräfte of Kant

Abstract

This article presents a study of the metaphysical problem of the link and relationships between substances in Kant's first published work. It demonstrates that, in spite of Kant's attribution to the substances of an active force, of physical nature and not spiritual, which put him in the wolffian tradition, he breaks with it by introducing a new notion of active force by means of the which a substance acts on another, modifying its internal state (the wolffian perspective considers the active force a principle of internal change). In this way, Kant is able to explain the interaction between the substances and can propose a conception of dynamic mutual interconnection between substances. The understanding of this conception is important for the study of the evolution of Kant's precritical thought.