Stein, Howard (2014) Newton: Philosophy of Inquiry and Metaphysics of Nature. [Preprint]

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Abstract

On Newton’s view understanding of the fundamental character of anything can only come from knowledge about that thing, gained from experience, he sought experimental knowledge of light, for example, that would provide, not in the first instance support for a prior theory of its nature, but some systematic basis for further investigation--and--possibly--an eventual more fundamental theory. Among the things to hope for as results of an investigation is the discovery both of new questions that may be profitably pursued and new instrumentalities for conducting further investigations. In Newton’s account of the nature of body, lawsplay a central role; and it is regularities--laws of behavior--that he primarily sought in his study of phenomena. It is these that make the results of the investigations what I have called “systematic.”

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Item Type:	Preprint
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Stein, Howard
Additional Information:	Unpublished work posted with the permission of the author.
Keywords:	Newton, laws, methodology, metaphysics
Subjects:	General Issues > History of Philosophy of Science General Issues > History of Science Case Studies General Issues > Laws of Nature Specific Sciences > Physics
Depositing User:	Admin Bryan R
Date Deposited:	29 Apr 2014 08:30
Last Modified:	29 Apr 2014 08:30
Item ID:	10636
Subjects:	General Issues > History of Philosophy of Science General Issues > History of Science Case Studies General Issues > Laws of Nature Specific Sciences > Physics
Date:	2014
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/10636

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