Newton on Matter and Activity - by Ernan McMullin (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Newton on Matter and Activity shows persuasively that while the Principia remains within the first two stages of inquiry (mathematical and physical) into nature, Newton spent the next forty years of his life making a philosophical analysis of matter, force, and transmission of force. Close attention is paid to methodological issues, especially Newton's move beyond inductivism and toward a reproductive theoretical schema of interpretation required to treat of attraction, hardness, and impenetrability. --Cross Currents

From the Back Cover

"Newton on Matter and Activity shows persuasively that while the Principia remains within the first two stages of inquiry (mathematical and physical) into nature, Newton spent the next forty years of his life making a philosophical analysis of matter, force, and transmission of force. Close attention is paid to methodological issues, especially Newton's move beyond inductivism and toward a reproductive theoretical schema of interpretation required to treat of attraction, hardness, and impenetrability." --Cross Currents

"While McMullin's study is indebted to the work of contemporary Newton scholars, his arguments are frequently original and he tackles tangled topics with circumspection and admirable clarity. This closely argued book is an up-to-date and judicious study of Newton's natural philosophy, providing a critical survey of a convoluted area of scholarship. In clarifying Newton's ontology, McMullin has made a valuable contribution to Newtonian studies." --International Studies in Philosophy

"In this delightfully brief and trenchant book Ernan McMullin elevates several current problems in Newtonian scholarship to a new level of sophistication." -- Eighteenth-Century Studies

ERNAN McMULLIN [1924-2011] was John Cardinal O'Hara Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame.

Review Quotes

"Newton on Matter and Activity shows persuasively that while the Principia remains within the first two stages of inquiry (mathematical and physical) into nature, Newton spent the next forty years of his life making a philosophical analysis of matter, force, and transmission of force. Close attention is paid to methodological issues, especially Newton's move beyond inductivism and toward a reproductive theoretical schema of interpretation required to treat of attraction, hardness, and impenetrability." --Cross Currents

"A major contribution to the growing literature on Newton. . . . Drawing upon both Newton's published and unpublished writings, McMullin explores the more metaphysical side of Newton's physics--questions regarding the nature of matter, force, aether, spirit, and the void--rather than the mathematical and more positivistic side." --Choice


"While McMullin's study is indebted to the work of contemporary Newton scholars, his arguments are frequently original and he tackles tangled topics with circumspection and admirable clarity. This closely argued book is an up-to-date and judicious study of Newton's natural philosophy, providing a critical survey of a convoluted area of scholarship. In clarifying Newton's ontology, McMullin has made a valuable contribution to Newtonian studies." --International Studies in Philosophy



"In this delightfully brief and trenchant book Ernan McMullin elevates several current problems in Newtonian scholarship to a new level of sophistication." -- Eighteenth-Century Studies

About the Author

Ernan McMullin [1924-2011] was John Cardinal O'Hara Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame.