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Ruggiero Boscovich's Theory of Natural Philosophy : Points, Distances, Determinations / Luca Guzzardi.

Drawing on published works, correspondence and manuscripts, this book offers the most comprehensive reconstruction of Boscovichs theory within its historical context. It explains the genesis and theoretical as well as epistemological underpinnings in light of the Jesuit tradition to which Boscovich...

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Bibliographic Details
Online Access: Full Text (via Springer)
Main Author: Guzzardi, Luca (Author)
Format: eBook
Language:English
Published: Cham, Switzerland : Springer, [2020]
Series:Science networks historical studies ; v. 60.
Subjects:
Boscovich, Ruggero Giuseppe, > 1711-1787.
Science > History > 18th century.
Science > Philosophy > History > 18th century.
Table of Contents:
  • Intro
  • Acknowledgments
  • Introduction
  • The Man for Wisdomś Various Arts Renownd́
  • Contents
  • Chapter 1: In the Temples of Holy Mathematics
  • 1.1 The Good Purposes of Father Clavius
  • 1.2 Light from Abroad: The Flandro-Belgian Connection and Gilles-François de Gottignies
  • 1.3 Desperate Defenses in a Physico-Mathematical Style
  • 1.4 Boscovich, the Anti-Copernican
  • 1.5 Exercising the Compatibilist Virtue
  • 1.6 Glimmers of Newtonianism
  • 1.7 Compatibilism Anew: The ̀̀Sidereal Space ́́
  • Chapter 2: Godś in His Heaven-Allś Right with the World.
  • 2.1 A Force Called Inertia and Other Determinations
  • 2.2 Being Agnostic About the Causal Power of Powers
  • 2.3 Being Neutral About Physical Representations
  • 2.4 A Determination of What? Boscovichś Epistemology of Force
  • 2.5 God Only Knows
  • Chapter 3: The Others
  • 3.1 A Matter of Inclinations
  • 3.2 Newtonś Ambiguity Disentangled
  • 3.2.1 Hales ́Amphibious Air
  • 3.2.2 The Spheres of Activity of John T. Desaguliers and John Rowning
  • 3.2.3 An Attempt by Gowin Knight
  • 3.2.4 The ̀̀Beautiful ́́Magnetic Theory of John Michell
  • 3.3 Boscovich and the Newtonians
  • 3.4 Vexed Questions.
  • 3.4.1 Leibnizianism Disguised?
  • 3.4.2 A Prototheory of Field?
  • Chapter 4: The Book of Genesis
  • 4.1 A Research Program from 1748: The Camaldolese Ur-Theorie
  • 4.2 Deeper into the Points, Building Up Matter
  • 4.2.1 Zenoś Revival
  • 4.2.2 Aristotelianism Corrected with Newtonian Transduction
  • 4.3 Never-Ending Aggregates
  • 4.4 The Number of Points of a Body: Boscovichś Notion of Mass and Its Source
  • 4.5 A Three-Layered Metaphysics of Space
  • Chapter 5: The Other Labyrinth
  • 5.1 Strategy Changes
  • 5.2 Leibniz in Light (and Shadow) of Aristotle.
  • 5.3 Problem-Solving by Geometrical Means
  • Chapter 6: Touching Infinity
  • 6.1 Early Expressions
  • 6.2 Infinite Legs and Their Arcana
  • 6.3 Mathematical Constraints
  • 6.4 ̀̀Invenire Naturam Curvae ́́
  • 6.5 Building the Curve
  • 6.5.1 Simple but Subtle
  • 6.5.2 It Rains Cuts and Dogs
  • 6.5.3 To Each His Own
  • 6.5.4 Symmetries
  • 6.5.5 Infinitesimals that Cause Infinities
  • 6.5.6 Indeterminacy
  • 6.6 Epilogue
  • Concluding Remarks
  • The Will to Unify, the Force of Plurality
  • Bibliography.

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