UCL Department of Science and Technology Studies

Isaac Newton's conception of absolute space: a new hypothesis.

Andrew Janiak: Duke University

Abstract

Isaac Newton's distinction in Principia mathematica between what he calls the absolute and the relative conceptions of space, time and motion is well known today and was highly influential historically. In part, Newton presented the distinction in order to succeed where Descartes's physics had failed, namely in providing a conception of space and time that coheres with the facts about motion expressed by the laws of nature. But as it turns out, Newton actually began to develop his conception of absolute space in 1680-81 while attempting to articulate a view of space and of motion that could accommodate theological and religious texts. The drafts of the Principia from 1684-85 show signs of this same concern, as does an otherwise puzzling statement in the Principia itself. The new hypothesis is that Newton's conception of space was actually developed to deal with theological and religious issues, and then, remarkably, emerged later as precisely the view that Newton would require for his physics.