conatus

Definitions

1. An effort, an endeavour, a striving.
2. Such a striving effort that is a life force.
3. A force or impulse.

Equivalents

Examples

“Creationists commonly doctor the Second Law of Thermodynamics to claim⟳ that biological evolution, an increase⟳ in order⟳ over time, is physically impossible. The part of the law they omit is “in a closed system.” Organisms are open⟳ systems: they capture⟳ energy from the sun, food, or ocean vents to carve out temporary pockets of order⟳ in their bodies and nests while they dump⟳ heat and waste⟳ into the environment, increasing disorder in the world as a whole. Organisms’ use⟳ of energy to maintain⟳ their integrity against the press⟳ of entropy is a modern explanation of the principle of conatus (effort or striving), which Spinoza defined as “the endeavor to persist and flourish in one’s own⟳ being,” and which was a foundation of several Enlightenment-era theories of life and mind⟳.”

“[E]ach part so moved does by that motion exert a conatus of protruding and displacing all the adjacent Particles.”

CEFR level