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21 - From Metaphysical Principles to Dynamical Laws

from Part III - Problems and Controversies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 January 2022

By
Marius Stan
Edited by
David Marshall Miller  and
Dana Jalobeanu
David Marshall Miller
Affiliation:
Iowa State University
Dana Jalobeanu
Affiliation:
University of Bucharest
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Summary

Through the 1600s, the fundamental laws of mechanics served as bridge principles to ontology and confirmation theory. By the mid-eighteenth century, the laws came to lose their former bridging function. As a result, the metaphysics and epistemology of classical mechanics became opaque. The chapter diagnoses several factors that catalyzed the changed status of basic laws.

Keywords

laws of naturemetaphysical foundationsconfirmation of theoriesclassical mechanicsdynamical principles
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge History of Philosophy of the Scientific Revolution , pp. 387 - 405
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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