La matière est-elle essentiellement active ? John Toland et l’« autokinésie » de la matière

This paper is concerned with John Toland’s view that matter is inherently active. It focuses on two argumentative strategies he pursues: one based on the contention that matter cannot be conceived without motion, the other on the view that local motion must be distinguished from motion in general (the ‘autokinesy’ of matter). I argue that whereas Toland is toying with different conceptions of how their relation can be conceived, the primary one is that of genus and species rather than cause and effect.