Conatus

Today, conatus is rarely used in the technical sense, since classical mechanics uses concepts such as inertia and conservation of momentum that have superseded it.

The Latin cōnātus comes from the verb cōnor, which is usually translated into English as, to endeavor; used as an abstract noun, conatus is an innate inclination of a thing to continue to exist and enhance itself.

[12] Conatus is a central theme in the philosophy of Benedict de Spinoza (1632–1677), which is derived from principles that Hobbes and Descartes developed.

[13] Contrary to most philosophers of his time, Spinoza rejects the dualistic assumption that mind, intentionality, ethics, and freedom are to be treated as things separate from the natural world of physical objects and events.

Since a thing cannot be destroyed without the action of external forces, motion and rest, too, exist indefinitely until disturbed.

[15] Spinoza explains seemingly irregular human behaviour as really natural and rational and motivated by this principle of the conatus.

[8] After the development of classical mechanics, the concept of a conatus, in the sense used by philosophers other than Spinoza,[8] an intrinsic property of all physical bodies, was largely superseded by the principles of inertia and conservation of momentum.

[5] However, Giambattista Vico, inspired by Neoplatonism, explicitly rejected the principle of inertia and the laws of motion of the new physics.

[25] However, the scope of the idea is definitely narrower today, being explained in terms of chemistry and neurology where, before, it was a matter of metaphysics and theurgy.