Universal Gravitation and the (Un)Intelligibility of Natural Philosophy

Pacific Philosophical Quarterly 101 (1):129-157 (2020)
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Abstract

This article centers on Hume’s position on the intelligibility of natural philosophy. To that end, the controversy surrounding universal gravitation shall be scrutinized. It is very well-known that Hume sides with the Newtonian experimentalist approach rather than with the Leibnizian demand for intelligibility. However, what is not clear is Hume’s overall position on the intelligibility of natural philosophy. It shall be argued that Hume declines Leibniz’s principle of intelligibility. However, Hume does not eschew intelligibility altogether; his concept of causation itself stipulates mechanical intelligibility.

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Matias Kimi Slavov
Tampere University

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References found in this work

An Enquiry concerning the Principles of Morals.David Hume & Tom L. Beauchamp - 1998 - Revue Philosophique de la France Et de l'Etranger 190 (2):230-231.
Newton and the reality of force.Andrew Janiak - 2007 - Journal of the History of Philosophy 45 (1):127-147.
Gravity and De gravitatione: the development of Newton’s ideas on action at a distance.John Henry - 2011 - Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 42 (1):11-27.

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