About the Book
In this collection of new and previously published essays, noted philosopher Eric Schliesser offers new interpretations of the signifance of Isaac Newton's metaphysics on his physics and the subsequent development of philosophy more broadly. Schliesser address Newton's account of space, time, gravity, motion, inertia, and laws-all evergreens in the literature; he also breaks new ground in focusing on Newton's philosophy of time, Newton's views on emanation, and
Newton's modal metaphysics. In particular, Schliesser explores the rich resonances between Newton's and Spinoza's metaphysics. Schliesser presents a new argument of the ways in which
Newton and his circle respond to the treatment and accusations of Spinozism, illuminating both the details of Newton's metaphysics and the content of Spinoza's. Schliesser provides a fine-grained analysis of some of the key metaphysical concepts in Newton's physics, including controversial interpretations of Newton's ideas on space, time, inertia, and necessity. Schliesser restates his provocative interpretation of Newton's views on action at a distance as he was developing the
Principia.Newton's Metaphysics contains a substantive introduction, two chapters co-authored with Zvi Biener and with Mary Domski, new chapters on Newton's modal metaphysics and his theology, and
two postscripts in which Schliesser responds to some of his most important critics, including Katherine Brading, Andrew Janiak, Hylarie Kochiras, Steffen Ducheyne, and Adwait Parker. The collection presents new and varied analyses on familiar focuses of Newton's work, adding important perspectives to the recent revival of interest in Spinoza's metaphysics.
Table of Contents:
Contents
Acknowledgments
Note on the text
Abbreviations
Introduction
1. Without God: Gravity as a Relational Quality of Matter in Newton's Treatise
2. Newton's substance monism, distant action, and the nature of Newton's empiricism
2a. Postscript
3. On reading Newton as an Epicurean
4. Newton and Spinoza: On motion and matter (and God, of course) (with Mary Domski)
5. Newtonian emanation, Spinozism, measurement and the Baconian origins of the laws of nature
6. The certainty, modality, and grounding of Newton's laws (with Zvi Biener)
7. Newton's philosophy of time
7a. Postscript
8. Newton's Modal Metaphysics and Polemics with Spinozism in the General Scholium
9. The Posidonian Argument: The Presupposition of Design in Natural Philosophy
Bibliography
Index
About the Author :
Eric Schliesser is Professor of Political Science, with a focus on Political Theory, at the University of Amsterdam. In addition, he is Visiting Scholar at the Smith Institute for Political Economy and Philosophy, Chapman University. His research encompasses a variety of themes, ranging from the history of the natural sciences and forgotten 18th-century feminists to political theory, the history of political theory, and the assumptions used in
mathematical economics. His interest in the influence of the Chicago school of economics has increasingly moved his research toward the study of the methodology and political role of economists as experts. His publications
include his monograph, Adam Smith: Systematic philosopher and Public Thinker (2017), and with Sandrine Bergès, the translated and edited collection, Sophie de Grouchy's Letters on Sympathy: A Critical Engagement with Adam Smith's The Theory of Moral Sentiments (2019). He has edited numerous volumes including (inter alia) Newton and empiricism, with Zvi Biener, 2014; Sympathy, a History of a Concept (2015); and Ten Neglected Classics of
philosophy (2017). Together with Chris Smeenk he is editing the Oxford Handbook of Newton. He keeps a daily blog Digressionsnimpressions.
Review :
In this wonderful collection of essays, Eric Schliesser embarks on an ambitious and long-awaited intellectual project: charting the complex and subtle nuances of the metaphysical view underpinning Newton's physics. In his characteristically visionary style, Schliesser invites us to explore the modal metaphysics at work behind Newton's notion of gravity, motion and laws of nature. The result is a fascinating and unrivalled journey through a less well-known Newton, one who did not shy away from engaging with metaphysical debates about necessity, chance and fatalism, and whose far-reaching contributions extend well beyond the realm of natural philosophy. This book is a gem for anyone interested in historical debates at the conjunction between physics and metaphysics.
This book provides rich new insights into Newton's metaphysics and philosophical theology. By placing Newton's thought in the context of early modern philosophy-and, in particular, the controversy over Spinozistic 'atheism'-Schliesser succeeds in illuminating a variety of puzzling issues not only about Newton but about a number of Newton's contemporaries, including Toland, Clarke, and Bentley. This book is highly recommended not only to Newton scholars, but to anyone with an interest in early modern philosophy.
Schliesser's essays are at the cutting edge of current research on Newton's philosophy. Important interpretive issues in Newton's treatment of space, causation, gravity, scientific method, and the role of God in the natural world are here addressed by one of the world's leading experts. The contributions to our understanding of Newton's treatment of time and of the relationship of his system of thought to Spinoza's are especially noteworthy. The breadth of the topics will encourage many readers interested in philosophy and science who have not yet studied Newton to discover reasons that they should.
The book stands out on another count that matters. A magnanimous spirit pervades it -of intellectual generosity toward Schliesser's peers, especially the young ones, whose voices sometimes go unheard- coupled with a good deal of humility. In that respect, Schliesser teaches a lesson we could all stand to learn.
