Leibniz, Wolff et la Métaphysique Traitée Selon la Méthode Scientifique

Wolff’s philosophy is often defined by commentators as « dogmatic leibnizism ». However, if we try to read the expression in a positive light, we discover what exactly distinguishes Wolff’s metaphysics from that of Leibniz, thereby establishing Wolff’s real contribution to the history of thought. First of all, the notion of « dogma » presented in Wolff’s philosophy is analyzed. This notion recalls the demonstrative model provided by mathematics and especially, Euclid’s Elements. According to axiomatic patterns, ontology is thought of as the « first philosophy ». This aspect cannot be separated from the function of a posteriori knowledge in Wolff’s thinking. This permits us to comprehend the function of ontology, Wolff’s cosmology, and his invention of the notion of « teleology ».     

Middle Palaeolithic raw material gathering territories and human mobility in the southern Massif Central,France: first results from a petro-archaeological study on flint

During the Middle Palaeolithic in the south-eastern Massif Central and the bordering Rhone Valley, humans collected almost all their raw materials from various secondary outcrop which can be distinguished by the inherent characteristics of the materials. Similar lithic facies are unlikely to be encountered on two or more different natural outcrops and every artefact shows a surface that is well enough preserved to be studied according to a morphoscopic analysis at various magnifications. For all sites, some more remote sources were also exploited. However, most of the supposed exogenous materials, such as some Cretaceous flints identified in the Velay assemblages of Sainte-Anne I and Baume-Vallée for example, come from the heart of the massif where they occur in secondary alluvial deposits. Nevertheless, the extent of the foraging territories as revealed by raw materials sourcing covers a large band of various relief between the western and southern Causses, the Rhône corridor and the northern Limagne and Forez plains and animal species hunted by these groups express an environmental mosaic which fits with the image of landscape given by the raw materials.