[ Stathis Psillos (2021), “From the Evidence of History to the History of Evidence: Descartes, Newton, and Beyond”, in T. D. Lyons and P. Vickers (2021), Contemporary Scientific Realism: The Challenge from the History of Science (Oxford University Press), pp. 70-98. ]
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Descartes on Mechanical Hypotheses
5.2.1 The Bridge Principle
5.2.2 The System of the World
5.2.3 Was Descartes an Instrumentalist?
5.2.4 The Fate of Vortices
5.3 Newton’s Deduction from the Phenomena
5.3.1 What was the Problem with Vortices?
5.3.1.1 Huygens vs. Leibniz
5.3.2 How to Do Natural Philosophy
5.3.3 Newton’s Account of Explanation
5.3.4 Quam Proxime
5.4 Einstein’s Retentionism
5.5 Divide et Impera by Other Means
5.6 Conclusions
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Descartes on Mechanical Hypotheses
5.2.1 The Bridge Principle
5.2.2 The System of the World
5.2.3 Was Descartes an Instrumentalist?
5.2.4 The Fate of Vortices
5.3 Newton’s Deduction from the Phenomena
5.3.1 What was the Problem with Vortices?
5.3.1.1 Huygens vs. Leibniz
5.3.2 How to Do Natural Philosophy
5.3.3 Newton’s Account of Explanation
5.3.4 Quam Proxime
5.4 Einstein’s Retentionism
5.5 Divide et Impera by Other Means
5.6 Conclusions
(2023.10.05.)
