Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A, 2015
In the Scholium to the Definitions in Principia mathematica, Newton departs from his main task of... more In the Scholium to the Definitions in Principia mathematica, Newton departs from his main task of discussing space, time and motion by suddenly mentioning the proper method for interpreting Scripture. This is surprising, and it has long been ignored by scholars. In this paper, I argue that the Scripture passage in the Scholium is actually far from incidental: it reflects Newton's substantive concern, one evident in correspondence and manuscripts from the 1680s, that any general understanding of space, time and motion must enable readers to recognize the veracity of Biblical claims about natural phenomena, including the motion of the earth. This substantive concern sheds new light on an aspect of Newton's project in the Scholium. It also underscores Newton's originality in dealing with the famous problem of reconciling theological and philosophical conceptions of nature in the seventeenth century.
This collection of specially-commissioned essays by leading scholars presents new research on Isa... more This collection of specially-commissioned essays by leading scholars presents new research on Isaac Newton and his main philosophical interlocutors and critics. The essays analyze Newton's relation to his contemporaries, especially Barrow, Descartes, Leibniz and Locke, and discuss the ways in which a broad range of figures, including Hume, Maclaurin, Maupertuis, and Kant, reacted to his thought. The wide range of topics discussed includes the laws of nature, the notion of force, the relation of mathematics to nature, Newton's ...
Since the publication of Newton's optical papers in the 1670s, and the appearance of Principia ma... more Since the publication of Newton's optical papers in the 1670s, and the appearance of Principia mathematica in 1687, his work has been associated with what was then called the "experimental philosophy," and later termed "British empiricism." 1 Many twentieth-century interpreters and expositors of Newton have associated him in one way or another with the tradition of British empiricism stretching from Bacon, Boyle, and Locke in the seventeenth century to Berkeley and Hume in the eighteenth . Perhaps the most influential recent interpreter to place Newton within the empiricist tradition is Howard Stein, whose work on Newton first appeared in the late 1960s and who has been one of his most important expositors in the intervening four decades. Stein's work on Newton, like his interpretations of Christiaan Huygens and other early modern thinkers, represents an illuminating method of employing philosophical concepts and problems to probe questions in the history of modern science. 2 From Stein's point of view, in particular, Newton's rejection of the traditional concept of substance is a hallmark of his commitment to philosophical empiricism, which itself represents a key aspect of his break from Cartesian ideas in both metaphysics and natural philosophy. Stein has helped to indicate that Newton's broadly empiricist critique of Cartesianism in the famous unpublished tract, De Gravitatione, is continuous with-and sheds light onhis published work, especially Principia mathematica. This connection between Descartes's natural philosophy and Newton's has been tremendously fruitful for contemporary research (Stein 2002).
thanks also to Michela Massimi for sending me extensive comments on the penultimate draft; I owe ... more thanks also to Michela Massimi for sending me extensive comments on the penultimate draft; I owe some of my terminology-such as ''dynamical cause''-to her. j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w . e l s e v i e r . c o m / l o c a t e / s h p s a 5 The problem connects with the question-dealt with below-of how to understand Newton's claim in the General Scholium that he has not yet discovered a ''cause'' of gravity, for even if Newtonian forces (including gravity) are efficient causes, it seems odd that we could also think of gravity's physical seat as an efficient cause. But then the question of whether gravity's cause (i.e., its physical seat) can be thought of on the model of another of the three Aristotelian aitia becomes central. I
... reflects some of Newton's more prominent characterizations of his own method and goals.1... more ... reflects some of Newton's more prominent characterizations of his own method and goals.13 Once again, reevaluating Kant's response to Hume requires us to ... On the one hand, Kant's views on “mechanism” involve the contrast between those phenomena and events that are ...
Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A, 2015
In the Scholium to the Definitions in Principia mathematica, Newton departs from his main task of... more In the Scholium to the Definitions in Principia mathematica, Newton departs from his main task of discussing space, time and motion by suddenly mentioning the proper method for interpreting Scripture. This is surprising, and it has long been ignored by scholars. In this paper, I argue that the Scripture passage in the Scholium is actually far from incidental: it reflects Newton's substantive concern, one evident in correspondence and manuscripts from the 1680s, that any general understanding of space, time and motion must enable readers to recognize the veracity of Biblical claims about natural phenomena, including the motion of the earth. This substantive concern sheds new light on an aspect of Newton's project in the Scholium. It also underscores Newton's originality in dealing with the famous problem of reconciling theological and philosophical conceptions of nature in the seventeenth century.
This collection of specially-commissioned essays by leading scholars presents new research on Isa... more This collection of specially-commissioned essays by leading scholars presents new research on Isaac Newton and his main philosophical interlocutors and critics. The essays analyze Newton's relation to his contemporaries, especially Barrow, Descartes, Leibniz and Locke, and discuss the ways in which a broad range of figures, including Hume, Maclaurin, Maupertuis, and Kant, reacted to his thought. The wide range of topics discussed includes the laws of nature, the notion of force, the relation of mathematics to nature, Newton's ...
Since the publication of Newton's optical papers in the 1670s, and the appearance of Principia ma... more Since the publication of Newton's optical papers in the 1670s, and the appearance of Principia mathematica in 1687, his work has been associated with what was then called the "experimental philosophy," and later termed "British empiricism." 1 Many twentieth-century interpreters and expositors of Newton have associated him in one way or another with the tradition of British empiricism stretching from Bacon, Boyle, and Locke in the seventeenth century to Berkeley and Hume in the eighteenth . Perhaps the most influential recent interpreter to place Newton within the empiricist tradition is Howard Stein, whose work on Newton first appeared in the late 1960s and who has been one of his most important expositors in the intervening four decades. Stein's work on Newton, like his interpretations of Christiaan Huygens and other early modern thinkers, represents an illuminating method of employing philosophical concepts and problems to probe questions in the history of modern science. 2 From Stein's point of view, in particular, Newton's rejection of the traditional concept of substance is a hallmark of his commitment to philosophical empiricism, which itself represents a key aspect of his break from Cartesian ideas in both metaphysics and natural philosophy. Stein has helped to indicate that Newton's broadly empiricist critique of Cartesianism in the famous unpublished tract, De Gravitatione, is continuous with-and sheds light onhis published work, especially Principia mathematica. This connection between Descartes's natural philosophy and Newton's has been tremendously fruitful for contemporary research (Stein 2002).
thanks also to Michela Massimi for sending me extensive comments on the penultimate draft; I owe ... more thanks also to Michela Massimi for sending me extensive comments on the penultimate draft; I owe some of my terminology-such as ''dynamical cause''-to her. j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w . e l s e v i e r . c o m / l o c a t e / s h p s a 5 The problem connects with the question-dealt with below-of how to understand Newton's claim in the General Scholium that he has not yet discovered a ''cause'' of gravity, for even if Newtonian forces (including gravity) are efficient causes, it seems odd that we could also think of gravity's physical seat as an efficient cause. But then the question of whether gravity's cause (i.e., its physical seat) can be thought of on the model of another of the three Aristotelian aitia becomes central. I
... reflects some of Newton's more prominent characterizations of his own method and goals.1... more ... reflects some of Newton's more prominent characterizations of his own method and goals.13 Once again, reevaluating Kant's response to Hume requires us to ... On the one hand, Kant's views on “mechanism” involve the contrast between those phenomena and events that are ...
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