Interpreting Newton
Critical Essays

Essays by leading scholars on Isaac Newton and his philosophical interlocutors and critics, discussing a wide range of topics.

Andrew Janiak (Edited by), Eric Schliesser (Edited by)

9780521766180, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 12 January 2012

450 pages
23.5 x 16 x 2.5 cm, 0.85 kg

This collection of specially commissioned essays by leading scholars presents 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 argument for universal gravitation, his attitude toward philosophical empiricism, his use of 'fluxions', his approach toward measurement problems and his concept of absolute motion, together with new interpretations of Newton's matter theory. The volume concludes with an extended essay that analyzes the changes in physics wrought by Newton's Principia. A substantial introduction and bibliography provide essential reference guides.

Introduction Andrew Janiak and Eric Schliesser
Part I. Newton and his Contemporaries: 1. Newton's law-constitutive approach to bodies: a response to Descartes Katherine Brading
2. Leibniz, Newton and force Daniel Garber
3. Locke's qualified embrace of Newton's Principia Mary Domski
4. What geometry postulates: Newton and Barrow on the relationship of mathematics to nature Katherine Dunlop
Part II. Philosophical Themes in Newton: 5. Cotes' queries: Newton's Empiricism and Conceptions of Matter Zvi Biener and Chris Smeenk
6. Newton's Scientific Method and the Universal Law of Gravitation Ori Belkind
7. Measurement and method: some remarks on Newton, Huygens and Euler on natural philosophy William Harper
8. What did Newton mean by 'Absolute Motion'? Nick Huggett
9. From velocities to fluxions Marco Panza
Part III. The Reception of Newton: 10. Newton, Locke, and Hume Graciela de Pierris
11. Maupertuis on attraction as an inherent property of matter Lisa Downing
12. The Newtonian refutation of Spinoza: Newton's Challenge and the Socratic Problem Eric Schliesser
13. Dispositional explanations: Boyle's problem, Newton's solution, Hume's response Lynn Joy
14. Newton and Kant on Absolute Space: from theology to transcendental philosophy Michael Friedman
15. How Newton's Principia changed physics George Smith
Bibliography.

Subject Areas: History of science [PDX], Philosophy of science [PDA], Philosophy of mathematics [PBB], Western philosophy: c 1600 to c 1900 [HPCD]