Matter in motion : the problem of activity in seventeenth-century English matter theory
This thesis considers some of the ways in which leading seventeenth-century English mechanical philosophers tried to account for the various motions of matter which played such a fundamental role in their philosophies. It argues that the Cartesian mechanical philosophy, in which matter is considered to be completely passive and inert and the amount of motion in the universe is constant (being merely transmitted and transferred by impacts), gained no full committed adherents in England. Only Thomas Hobbes tried to develop a similarly 'strict' mechanical system based on a concept of passive matter and his system completely failed to win support. All the other major thinkers examined in this study either show a marked tendency towards a belief in a concept of active matter or include in their systems some kind of physical principle capable of activating matter. After the Introduction, in which the scope of the enquiry is delineated, Chapter 1 argues that the mechanical philosophers attempt to explain everything in terms of 'matter in motion' presented them with the metaphysical problems of defining matter and accounting for its motions. Subsequent chapters show the ways in which Hobbes, Sir Kenelm Digby, Walter
Henry, J. C.
Philosophy
Matter in motion : the problem of activity in seventeenth-century English matter theory. This thesis considers some of the ways in which leading seventeenth-century English mechanical philosophers tried to account for the various motions of matter which played such a fundamental role in their philosophies. It argues that the Cartesian mechanical philosophy, in which matter is considered to be completely passive and inert and the amount of motion in the universe is constant (being merely transmitted and transferred by impacts), gained no full committed adherents in England. Only Thomas Hobbes tried to develop a similarly 'strict' mechanical system based on a concept of passive matter and his system completely failed to win support. All the other major thinkers examined in this study either show a marked tendency towards a belief in a concept of active matter or include in their systems some kind of physical principle capable of activating matter. After the Introduction, in which the scope of the enquiry is delineated, Chapter 1 argues that the mechanical philosophers attempt to explain everything in terms of 'matter in motion' presented them with the metaphysical problems of defining matter and accounting for its motions. Subsequent chapters show the ways in which Hobbes, Sir Kenelm Digby, Walter
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