Walsh, Kirsten (2014) Phenomena in Newton's Principia. In: UNSPECIFIED.

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Abstract

Newton described his Principia as a work of ‘experimental philosophy’, where theories were deduced from phenomena. He introduced six ‘phenomena’: propositions describing patterns of motion, generalised from astronomical observations. However, these don’t fit Newton’s contemporaries’ definitions of ‘phenomenon’. Drawing on Bogen and Woodward’s (1988) distinction between data, phenomena and theories, I argue that Newton’s ‘phenomena’ were explanatory targets drawn from raw data. Viewed in this way, the phenomena of the Principia and the experiments from the Opticks were different routes to the same end: isolating explananda.

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Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (UNSPECIFIED)
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Walsh, Kirsten walki303@student.otago.ac.nz
Keywords:	Newton, Principia, phenomena, data, evidence, explananda
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Physics > Classical Physics General Issues > History of Philosophy of Science General Issues > History of Science Case Studies General Issues > Philosophers of Science General Issues > Theory/Observation
Depositing User:	Dr Kirsten Walsh
Date Deposited:	25 Nov 2014 16:37
Last Modified:	25 Nov 2014 16:37
Item ID:	11169
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Physics > Classical Physics General Issues > History of Philosophy of Science General Issues > History of Science Case Studies General Issues > Philosophers of Science General Issues > Theory/Observation
Date:	22 February 2014
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/11169

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