Newton Flashcards
Wax (solid, white, cold) that’s moved to a fire becomes liquid, clear, warm. Is it the same wax? If it is, our senses would not be why we got that information.
Cartesian Rationalism
the wax itself is something more like a substance that underlies all those properties
Cartesian Rationalism (2)
matter in general can’t be identified with any such property. (water floating has no shape, colour, or taste; but it’s matter)
Reasoning about Matter
extension can never be missing from matter. an matter must be extended in space. Space doesn’t contain matter, it is matter.
The Essence of Matter
Celestial & Stellar matter are of the same nature. (space is LxHxW, which is the same everywhere) Matter is the same everywhere.
Extension/Matter Consequences
an object can move from one place to another, but it’s original place never moves; matter is distinct from space.
Space/Matter Objection
this objection confuses two distinct concepts of extension/place
S/M Objection Response
- your extension is the amount of space you take up (physical boundary, goes where you go)
- your extension is the section of space you happen to occupy (stays when you go)
Ways to think of Extension
when we think of motion, we think of extension as (1); when we think of space, we think of extension as (2)
Motion & Extension
if space = matter, how can any position remain fixed as the matter within it leaves? Shouldn’t the position go with the matter?
Objection to Motion/Extension
position is defined relative to fixed bodies
Descartes Response to Objection Motion/Extension
if an object moves, isn’t this like one bit of space moving to another part of space? An object is the material content of a place
What is an object?
system of relations between bodies, not an independently existing substance/entity in its own right
Space (Descartes)
A & B are 100km apart (A at P1, B at P2; P1 & P2 100km apart). A and B stand in the ‘100km apart’ relation)
Objects and Distance Relation
