{"id":3072,"date":"2013-02-18T12:00:47","date_gmt":"2013-02-18T00:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/emxphi\/?p=3072"},"modified":"2013-02-16T16:31:10","modified_gmt":"2013-02-16T04:31:10","slug":"newton-and-the-esd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/emxphi\/newton-and-the-esd\/","title":{"rendered":"Newton and the ESD"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kirsten Walsh writes…<\/strong><\/p>\n

We rang in 2013 by reconsidering our set of 20 core theses<\/a> on the emergence and fate of early modern experimental philosophy.\u00a0 While our general theses regarding the distinction between experimental and speculative philosophy (ESD) were unchanged, I altered several of the specific claims about Newton\u2019s methodology.\u00a0 In this post, I\u2019ll focus on thesis 5 and why I changed it.<\/p>\n

In 2011<\/a>, I claimed that:<\/p>\n

5.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The ESD is operative in Newton\u2019s early optical papers.<\/p>\n

By \u2018operative\u2019, I mean that Newton appears to frame his methodology in terms of the ESD and aligns himself with the experimental philosophers of the Royal Society.\u00a0 While Newton\u2019s methodology differed from his contemporaries in important ways (for example, unlike his contemporaries, Newton emphasised quasi-mathematical reasoning<\/a>), it nevertheless reflects some of the key ideas and preferences of the Royal Society.\u00a0 Previously, I have discussed Newton\u2019s early anti-hypothetical stance<\/a> and Newton\u2019s early use of queries<\/a> as evidence of this his preference for the experimental philosophy of the Royal Society.<\/p>\n

I now have enough evidence to broaden the scope of thesis 5.\u00a0 The ESD is operative in all<\/em> of Newton\u2019s scientific work; not just his early work:<\/p>\n

5. \u00a0\u00a0 The ESD is operative in Newton\u2019s work, from his early work on optics in the 1670s to the final editions of Opticks<\/em> and Principia<\/em> published in the 1720s.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start with Newton\u2019s Opticks<\/em>.\u00a0 This book is widely recognised as a work of experimental philosophy.\u00a0 Newton\u2019s experimental focus is made explicit by the opening sentence (which appears in every edition):<\/p>\n

    \u201cMy Design in this Book is not to explain the Properties of Light by Hypotheses, but to propose and prove them by Reason and Experiments\u2026\u201d<\/ol>\n

    Moreover, the presence of queries and the absence of hypotheses reflect the epistemic commitments of the experimental philosophy.<\/p>\n

    Commentators often notice that, in later editions of Opticks<\/em>, Newton\u2019s queries become increasingly speculative.\u00a0 This suggests that, despite his use of ESD-jargon, Newton was not following the experimental philosophy after all.\u00a0 In response to this kind of objection, I have argued<\/a> that these later queries perform a role that is distinct to that of hypotheses, and that this role is consistent with Newton\u2019s methodology.\u00a0 Moreover, the general features of Newton\u2019s methodology reflect his commitment to experimental philosophy in opposition to speculative philosophy.\u00a0 In short, the ESD is operative in every edition of the Opticks.<\/em><\/p>\n

    Now consider Newton\u2019s Principia<\/em>.\u00a0 This book is often seen as less a work of experimental philosophy and more a work of mathematics.\u00a0 However, I have argued<\/a> that the methodological passages in the first edition of Principia<\/em>, though sparse, make it clear that experiment is an important theme of this work.\u00a0 Moreover, in the \u2018General Scholium\u2019, which was introduced in the 2nd<\/sup> edition in 1713, Newton makes his commitment to the experimental philosophy explicit<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    Commentators often notice that Newton\u2019s use of hypotheses in Principia<\/em>, and their changing roles between the three editions, suggest that his methodology changes over time.\u00a0 However, I have argued<\/a> that, in all three editions, Newton\u2019s use of hypotheses is consistent with his experimental method.\u00a0 Moreover, the late introduction of Rule 4<\/a> in 1726 demonstrates that this commitment to experimental philosophy, in opposition to speculative philosophy, is long-lasting.\u00a0 In short, the ESD is operative in every edition of the Principia<\/em>.<\/p>\n

    To summarise, the notions of experiment, queries and a decrying of speculative hypotheses that are enduring themes in Newton\u2019s work, from the 1670s to his death in 1727, support my broader thesis 5.\u00a0 Commentators often see Newton\u2019s use of these notions as rhetorical and argue that he failed to follow his own methodology.\u00a0 However, I argue that Newton\u2019s methodology is internally consistent.\u00a0 Moreover, these methodological statements are more than \u2018mere\u2019 rhetoric.\u00a0 Rather, to some extent they track his epistemic and ontological commitments<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    Do you think my argument is convincing?\u00a0 I\u2019d love to hear what you think about my conclusion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Kirsten Walsh writes… We rang in 2013 by reconsidering our set of 20 core theses on the emergence and fate of early modern experimental philosophy.\u00a0 While our general theses regarding the distinction between experimental and speculative philosophy (ESD) were unchanged, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4582,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[113],"tags":[16388,226,224],"class_list":["post-3072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ideas","tag-esd","tag-experimental-philosophy","tag-newton"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/emxphi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3072","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/emxphi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/emxphi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/emxphi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4582"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/emxphi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3072"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/emxphi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3072\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/emxphi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/emxphi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/emxphi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}