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Descartes’ Quantity of Motion: ‘New Age’ Holism Meets the Cartesian Conservation Principle
Author(s) -
Slowik Edward
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
pacific philosophical quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.914
H-Index - 32
eISSN - 1468-0114
pISSN - 0279-0750
DOI - 10.1111/1468-0114.00079
Subject(s) - holism , motion (physics) , epistemology , element (criminal law) , dual (grammatical number) , newton's laws of motion , correspondence principle (sociology) , philosophy , classical mechanics , theoretical physics , calculus (dental) , physics , law , political science , linguistics , medicine , dentistry
This essay explores various problematical aspects of Descartes’ conservation principle for the quantity of motion (size 3 speed), particularly its largely neglected “dual role” as a measure of both durational motion and instantaneous “tendencies towards motion.” Overall, an underlying non‐local, or “holistic,” element of quantity of motion (largely derived from his statics) will be revealed as central to a full understanding of the conservation principle’s conceptual development and intended operation; and this insight can be of use in responding to some of the recent and traditional criticisms of Descartes’ physics.