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Epistemology and Natural Philosophy in the 18th CenturyClassical Mechanics

Epistemology and Natural Philosophy in the 18th Century: Classical Mechanics [The evolution of mechanics towards what is now called classical mechanics is explored in depth. The exposition of fundaments and applications in various treatises and papers are examined, especially those of continental scientists and in particular the syntheses of Euler and d’Alembert,D’Alembert Jean Baptiste Le Rond who described the way mechanics could be made a rational discipline, like mathematics, based on Calculus. The complete mathematization of mechanics only occurred at the end of the 18th century however, with Lagrangian synthesis which is briefly summarized, concentrating more on the relations between physics and mathematics than to the technical aspects, which, however, are very important. The justification by the scholars of the 18th century of the foundations of mechanics, required substantial involvement in metaphysics and epistemology to introduce fundamental notions: the nature of space, time, force, constitution and properties of bodies, nature of motion. However, this effort was pursued not with the classical and organic approach of canonical philosophy but with the pragmatism of mathematical philosophers. Reading the chapter, for the nature of the subject, requires a basic knowledge of mathematics; to to make the text smoother the more technical aspects are left to notes.] http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png

Epistemology and Natural Philosophy in the 18th CenturyClassical Mechanics

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References (30)

Publisher
Springer International Publishing
Copyright
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
ISBN
978-3-030-52851-5
Pages
161 –298
DOI
10.1007/978-3-030-52852-2_3
Publisher site
See Chapter on Publisher Site

Abstract

[The evolution of mechanics towards what is now called classical mechanics is explored in depth. The exposition of fundaments and applications in various treatises and papers are examined, especially those of continental scientists and in particular the syntheses of Euler and d’Alembert,D’Alembert Jean Baptiste Le Rond who described the way mechanics could be made a rational discipline, like mathematics, based on Calculus. The complete mathematization of mechanics only occurred at the end of the 18th century however, with Lagrangian synthesis which is briefly summarized, concentrating more on the relations between physics and mathematics than to the technical aspects, which, however, are very important. The justification by the scholars of the 18th century of the foundations of mechanics, required substantial involvement in metaphysics and epistemology to introduce fundamental notions: the nature of space, time, force, constitution and properties of bodies, nature of motion. However, this effort was pursued not with the classical and organic approach of canonical philosophy but with the pragmatism of mathematical philosophers. Reading the chapter, for the nature of the subject, requires a basic knowledge of mathematics; to to make the text smoother the more technical aspects are left to notes.]

Published: Aug 26, 2020

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