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Single Idea 17028

[filed under theme 9. Objects / B. Unity of Objects / 1. Unifying an Object / b. Unifying aggregates ]

Full Idea

The particles of bodies attract one another at very small distances and cohere when they become contiguous.

Gist of Idea

Particles mutually attract, and cohere at short distances

Source

Isaac Newton (Principia Mathematica [1687], Bk 3 Gen Schol)

Book Ref

Newton,Isaac: 'Philosophical Writings' [CUP 2004], p.93

A Reaction

This is the sort of account of unity which has to be given in the corpuscular view of things, once substantial forms are given up. What is missing here is the structure of the thing. A lump of dirt is as unified as a cat in this story.

The 50 ideas from Isaac Newton

16746 Principles of things are not hidden features of forms, but the laws by which they were formed [Newton]
23012 Newtonian causation is changes of motion resulting from collisions [Newton, by Baron/Miller]
17008 You have discovered that elliptical orbits result just from gravitation and planetary movement [Newton, by Leibniz]
17547 Newton's idea of force acting over a long distance was very strange [Heisenberg on Newton]
20966 Newton introduced forces other than by contact [Newton, by Papineau]
20967 Newton's laws cover the effects of forces, but not their causes [Newton, by Papineau]
16708 Newton's forces were accused of being the scholastics' real qualities [Pasnau on Newton]
18079 Newton developed a kinematic approach to geometry [Newton, by Kitcher]
17546 If you changed one of Newton's concepts you would destroy his whole system [Heisenberg on Newton]
13470 Mass is central to matter [Newton, by Hart,WD]
20968 Newton's Third Law implies the conservation of momentum [Newton, by Papineau]
6421 Newton's four fundamentals are: space, time, matter and force [Newton, by Russell]
13593 Newton showed that falling to earth and orbiting the sun are essentially the same [Newton, by Ellis]
20969 Early Newtonians could not formulate conservation of energy, having no concept of potential energy [Newton, by Papineau]
22915 Newton needs intervals of time, to define velocity and acceleration [Newton, by Le Poidevin]
22893 Newton thought his laws of motion needed absolute time [Newton, by Bardon]
15866 Newton reclassified vertical motion as violent, and unconstrained horizontal motion as natural [Newton, by Harré]
15958 Inertia rejects the Aristotelian idea of things having natural states, to which they return [Newton, by Alexander,P]
22954 Newtonian mechanics does not distinguish negative from positive values of time [Newton, by Coveney/Highfield]
17011 I suspect that each particle of bodies has attractive or repelling forces [Newton]
17010 We have given up substantial forms, and now aim for mathematical laws [Newton]
13153 I am studying the quantities and mathematics of forces, not their species or qualities [Newton]
17020 An attraction of a body is the sum of the forces of their particles [Newton]
17019 3: All actions of bodies have an equal and opposite reaction [Newton]
17018 2: Change of motion is proportional to the force [Newton]
17017 1: Bodies rest, or move in straight lines, unless acted on by forces [Newton]
17025 If a perfect being does not rule the cosmos, it is not God [Newton]
17024 The elegance of the solar system requires a powerful intellect as designer [Newton]
17026 From the phenomena, I can't deduce the reason for the properties of gravity [Newton]
17027 Science deduces propositions from phenomena, and generalises them by induction [Newton]
17028 Particles mutually attract, and cohere at short distances [Newton]
17022 We should admit only enough causes to explain a phenomenon, and no more [Newton]
17021 Natural effects of the same kind should be assumed to have the same causes [Newton]
17023 I am not saying gravity is essential to bodies [Newton]
17013 Absolute space is independent, homogeneous and immovable [Newton]
17014 The place of a thing is the sum of the places of its parts [Newton]
17016 Philosophy must abstract from the senses [Newton]
17015 If there is no uniform motion, we cannot exactly measure time [Newton]
17012 Time exists independently, and flows uniformly [Newton]
14012 Absolute time, from its own nature, flows equably, without relation to anything external [Newton]
18082 Quantities and ratios which continually converge will eventually become equal [Newton]
12724 The aim is to discover forces from motions, and use forces to demonstrate other phenomena [Newton]
13150 The motions of the planets could only derive from an intelligent agent [Newton]
15863 The principles of my treatise are designed to fit with a belief in God [Newton]
8340 I do not pretend to know the cause of gravity [Newton]
13151 Not all infinites are equal [Newton]
13152 We can talk of 'innumerable number', about the infinite points on a line [Newton]
12178 That gravity should be innate and essential to matter is absurd [Newton]
17009 I won't object if someone shows that gravity consistently arises from the action of matter [Newton]
17783 A number is not a multitude, but a unified ratio between quantities [Newton]