Locke and the Methodology of Newton’s Principia
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Patrick J. Connolly
Abstract
A number of commentators have recently suggested that there is a puzzle surrounding Locke’s acceptance of Newton’s Principia. On their view, Locke understood natural history as the primary methodology for natural philosophy and this commitment was at odds with an embrace of mathematical physics. This article considers various attempts to address this puzzle and finds them wanting. It then proposes a more synoptic view of Locke’s attitude towards natural philosophy. Features of Locke’s biography show that he was deeply interested in mathematical physics long before the publication of the Principia. This interest was in line with important developments in the Royal Society. It is argued that Locke endorsed a two-stage approach to natural philosophy which was consistent with an embrace of both natural history and mathematical physics. The Principia can be understood as consistent with this approach.
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Artikel in diesem Heft
- Titelseiten
- Articles
- Argumentation and Reflection in Plato’s Gigantomachia (Sophist 245e6–249d5)
- Perceiving Ideas
- Locke and the Methodology of Newton’s Principia
- Building Objective Thoughts: Stumpf, Twardowski and the Late Husserl on Psychic Products
- Review Article
- Are you a Democrat? Think Aristocratic. A review of: Kazutaka Inamura, Justice and Reciprocity in Aristotle’s Political Philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015, 255 pp.
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Titelseiten
- Articles
- Argumentation and Reflection in Plato’s Gigantomachia (Sophist 245e6–249d5)
- Perceiving Ideas
- Locke and the Methodology of Newton’s Principia
- Building Objective Thoughts: Stumpf, Twardowski and the Late Husserl on Psychic Products
- Review Article
- Are you a Democrat? Think Aristocratic. A review of: Kazutaka Inamura, Justice and Reciprocity in Aristotle’s Political Philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015, 255 pp.
