Space, atoms and mathematical divisibility in Newton
Section snippets
A conceptualist view of atoms: More and the young Newton
As Richard Westfall emphasizes, Newton's undergraduate notebook, the Questiones Quædam Philosophicæ of 1664, hints at much of the philosophical agenda for his later years.11 Although the early Newton thought of natural philosophy as at least a partly experimental enterprise,
Is Newton's early atomism incoherent?
I want to suggest that Newton's and More's conceptualist program, which presents atoms as entities bearing a non-zero, mathematically divisible extension, is in tension with their attempt to elucidate the sense in which atoms are physically indivisible by saying that they bear the least conceivable extension. Here's one way of seeing the point. Since atoms have a non-zero extension, they are mathematically divisible. But if they are divisible in that sense, this means we can as it were draw
Agnostic atomism in the Principia
In lieu of the conceptualism he defends as an undergraduate, in the Principia Newton's task is to explain the behavior and properties of macroscopic objects by reference to the behavior and properties of their constituent particles. He aims first of all to show that microscopic particles have the same primary qualities (to use Boyle's term)
Atomism in the Opticks
I have hinted that there is a deep affinity between Newton's comments in the Principia and those he makes in the Queries to the Opticks. This claim raises an immediate problem. How can a view outlined in the Principia be compared with one expressed in one of the infamous Queries? One might think that, despite the influence of the Queries,
The divisibility and indivisibility of space
Newton's well known view that space is an infinite, immutable, real entity presses him into carefully articulating why this does not commit him to identifying space with God. On Newton's understanding, Descartes denies that space is infinite precisely because he thought that the facts that infinity is a perfection and that God has every perfection entail that if space is infinite, then God is space. Of course this in turn leads to theologically suspect consequences.
For Further Reading
Garber, 1998, Hall and Hall, 1961, Koyré, 1955, Newton, 1726, Stein, 1970
Acknowledgements
Many thanks to Domenico Bertoloni Meli, Michael Friedman and Christian Johnson for their criticisms, to Alan Shapiro for his much appreciated encouragement, and to two anonymous referees for Studies for their helpful advice. Howard Stein shared his unpublished manuscript on Newton's metaphysics with me, for which I am grateful. Thanks also to the extremely helpful staff of the Lilly Rare Books Library at Indiana University and to the staff of the Indiana University Library for their assistance
References (77)
Atoms and the “Analogy of Nature”: Newton's Third Rule of Philosophizing
Studies in History and Philosophy of Science
(1970)Saving Newton's Text: Documents, Readers, and the Ways of the World
Studies in History and Philosophy of Science
(1987)The Leibniz–Clarke Correspondence
(1956)- Anonymous (1714) `Philosophia Naturalis Principia Mathematica, Autore Isaaco Newtono, equite aurato. Editio Secunda...
Equivalence and Priority
(1993)Caroline, Leibniz, and Clarke
Journal of the History of Ideas
(1999)The Image of Newton and Locke in the Age of Reason
(1961)Newton on Space and Time: Comments on J. E. McGuire
- Charleton, W. (1654) Physiologia Epicuro-Gassendo-Charltoniana...
Franklin and Newton
Hypotheses in Newton's Philosophy
Physis, Rivisita Internazionale di Storia della Scienza
Introduction to Newton's `Principia'
Correspondence avec Arnauld et Morus
Principia Philosophiae in Œuvres de Descartes
Stoic and Epicurean Doctrines in Newton's System of the World
Theology and the Scientific Imagination from the Middle Ages to the Seventeenth Century
Anne Conway et Henry More: Lettres sur Descartes (1650-1651)
Archives de Philosophie
Descartes' Metaphysical Physics
Leibniz: Physics and Philosophy
Much Ado About Nothing: Theories of Space and Vacuum from the Middle Ages to the Scientific Revolution
An Augustan Moment: The Opticks of Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton's Note-book, 1661–1665,
Cambridge Historical Journal
Newton's Theory of Matter
Isis
The Establishment of the Mechanical Philosophy
Osiris
A Connected System? The Snare of a Beautiful Hand and the Unity of Newton's Archive
Gassendi the Atomist: Advocate of History in an Age of Science
From the Closed World to the Infinite Universe
Les Queries de l'Optique
Archives Internationales d'Histoire des Sciences
Newtonian Studies
Newton and the Leibniz-Clarke Correspondence
Archives Internationales d'Histoire des Sciences
Cited by (15)
“In Nature as in Geometry”: Du Châtelet and the Post-Newtonian Debate on the Physical Significance of Mathematical Objects
2023, Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of ScienceForces of secularity in the modern world: Volume 1
2018, Forces of Secularity in the Modern World: Volume 1Forces of secularity in the modern world
2018, Forces of secularity in the modern worldThe Deep Metaphysics of Space: An Alternative History and Ontology Beyond Substantivalism and Relationism
2016, European Studies in Philosophy of ScienceIntroduction to “Force in Natural Philosophy”
2014, Philosophy, Science, and History: A Guide and ReaderIntroduction to "force in natural philosophy"
2014, Philosophy, Science, and History: A Guide and Reader