Combining Texts

Ideas for 'fragments/reports', 'Symbolic Reasoning' and 'Principia Mathematica'

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2 ideas

9. Objects / B. Unity of Objects / 1. Unifying an Object / b. Unifying aggregates

17028	Particles mutually attract, and cohere at short distances [Newton]
	Full Idea: The particles of bodies attract one another at very small distances and cohere when they become contiguous.
	From: Isaac Newton (Principia Mathematica [1687], Bk 3 Gen Schol)
	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.

9. Objects / C. Structure of Objects / 8. Parts of Objects / b. Sums of parts

17014	The place of a thing is the sum of the places of its parts [Newton]
	Full Idea: The place of a whole is the same as the sum of the places of the parts, and is therefore internal and in the whole body.
	From: Isaac Newton (Principia Mathematica [1687], Def 8 Schol)
	A reaction: Note that Newton is talking of the sums of places, and deriving them from the parts. This is the mereology of space.