“The main Business of natural Philosophy”
Isaac Newton’s Natural-Philosophical Methodology
Authors: Ducheyne, Steffen
Free Preview- Contains many previously unpublished transcriptions from Newton's private manuscripts
- Thoroughly based on a careful study of Newton's manuscripts
- A combination of detailed historical research cum philosophical-systematic explication of Newton's methodology. Therefore, it will attract historians and philosophers of science.
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- About this book
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In this monograph, Steffen Ducheyne provides a historically detailed and systematically rich explication of Newton’s methodology. Throughout the pages of this book, it will be shown that Newton developed a complex natural-philosophical methodology which encompasses procedures to minimize inductive risk during the process of theory formation and which, thereby, surpasses a standard hypothetico-deductive methodological setting. Accordingly, it will be highlighted that the so-called ‘Newtonian Revolution’ was not restricted to the empirical and theoretical dimensions of science, but applied equally to the methodological dimension of science. Furthermore, it will be documented that Newton’s methodology was far from static and that it developed alongside with his scientific work. Attention will be paid not only to the successes of Newton’s innovative methodology, but equally to its tensions and limitations. Based on a thorough study of Newton’s extant manuscripts, this monograph will address and contextualize, inter alia, Newton’s causal realism, his views on action at a distance and space and time, the status of efficient causation in the /Principia/, the different phases of his methodology, his treatment of force and the constituents of the physico-mathematical models in the context of Book I of the /Principia/, the analytic part of the argument for universal gravitation, the meaning and significance of his regulae philosophandi, the methodological differences between his mechanical and optical work, and, finally, the interplay between Newton’s theology and his natural philosophy.
- Reviews
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From the reviews:
“This new study by Steffen Ducheyne … focuses more on Newton’s natural philosophy. This marks a further advance of our understanding of this important subject, and Ducheyne is to be congratulated for discovering something new, and important, to say about a figure whose work has generated a veritable scholarly industry. … this is a major and important contribution to this field.” (John Henry, Science & Education, May, 2012)
- Table of contents (7 chapters)
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Newton and Causes: Something Borrowed and Something New
Pages 3-52
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Uncovering the Methodology of the Principia (I): The Phase of Model Construction
Pages 55-106
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Uncovering the Methodology of the Principia (II): The Phase of Model Application, Theory Formation and Theory Application
Pages 107-177
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Facing the Limits of Deductions from Phenomena: Newton’s Quest for a Mathematical-Demonstrative Optics
Pages 179-224
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Uncovering the Methodology of the Principia (III): A Brief Chronology of Newton’s Methodological Itinerary
Pages 225-232
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Table of contents (7 chapters)
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Bibliographic Information
- Bibliographic Information
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- Book Title
- “The main Business of natural Philosophy”
- Book Subtitle
- Isaac Newton’s Natural-Philosophical Methodology
- Authors
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- Steffen Ducheyne
- Series Title
- Archimedes
- Series Volume
- 29
- Copyright
- 2012
- Publisher
- Springer Netherlands
- Copyright Holder
- Springer Netherlands
- eBook ISBN
- 978-94-007-2126-5
- DOI
- 10.1007/978-94-007-2126-5
- Hardcover ISBN
- 978-94-007-2125-8
- Softcover ISBN
- 978-94-007-3721-1
- Series ISSN
- 1385-0180
- Edition Number
- 1
- Number of Pages
- XXVI, 354
- Topics
