Newton’s Matter Theory: Between Mechanism and Hylomorphism

Patrick J. Connolly (Johns Hopkins University)

Abstract: The shift from hylomorphism to mechanism is among the defining features of the early modern philosophy.  Mechanist philosophers rejected the Scholastic hylomorphic accounts of bodies on the grounds that they were unintelligible, unparsimonious, and offered defective explanations.  The goal of this paper is to consider Newton’s matter theory in light of this paradigm shift.  A close examination of Newton’s early manuscript essay, De gravitatione, shows that he developed his own innovative matter theory.  Newton’s theory has affinities with mechanism and hylomorphism, but it is not properly classified as a version of either view.  Examining Newton’s alternative theory in light of demands for intelligibility, parsimony, and explanatory leverage will show that it displays some of the strengths claimed by each of its rivals while also avoiding some of the challenges they face.