NATURAL PHILOSOPHY

During the seventeenth century, there was something approaching consensus about the methodological parameters of natural philosophy. Throughout the century, a debate raged about whether the natural philosopher could legitimately employ geometric and arithmetic methods to model and understand phenomena. It is probably safe to say that by the middle of the century, Rene Descartes had set the agenda of natural philosophy for philosophers throughout Europe. There can be no doubt that Newton made astonishing progress in using mathematical, especially geometric, methods in answering questions about the motions of bodies and the forces that cause them in Principia mathematica. The Cartesian conception of space, time, and motion, it is fair to say, set the stage for nearly all later discussions of the topics within natural philosophy in the seventeenth century. Descartes’s and Newton’s discussions of God within natural philosophy can make it tempting to conclude that they are parroting well-worn theological points.

Duke Scholars

Author Andrew Janiak Philosophy