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3Induction and the Principles of Love in Francis Bacon’s Philosophy of NatureJournal for General Philosophy of Science / Zeitschrift für Allgemeine Wissenschaftstheorie 1-24. forthcoming.This paper presents a reading of Bacon’s Novum Organum and the inductive method he offers therein. According to this reading, Bacon’s induction is the search for forms that are necessary and sufficient for making simple natures present. Simple natures are observable qualities. However, in the paper we argue that forms can best be understood via Bacon’s appetitive physics, according to which particles and bodies are endowed with appetites or inclinations that lead to bodily transformations. We ar…Read more
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29Mary Domski. Newton’s Third Rule and the Experimental Argument for Universal Gravity. New York: Routledge, 2022. Pp. xi+116. $47.96 (cloth). ISBN 978-1-032-02036-5 (review)Hopos: The Journal of the International Society for the History of Philosophy of Science 12 (2): 510-515. 2022.
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23Bacon’s Inductive Method and Material FormEpistemology and Philosophy of Science 58 (3): 57-68. 2021.This paper contends that Bacon’s inductive method depends crucially on his general account of matter. I argue that Bacon develops a dynamic form of corpuscularianism, according to which aggregates of corpuscles undergo patterns of change that derive from active inclinations and appetites. The paper claims that Bacon’s corpuscularianism provides him with a theory of material form that enables him to theorize bodily change and possible material transformations. The point of natural histories and e…Read more
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34In defense of Newtonian induction: Hume’s problem of induction and the universalization of primary qualitiesEuropean Journal for Philosophy of Science 9 (1): 1-26. 2018.This paper aims to advance two claims. First, it aims to show that Hume’s argument against the rationality of induction is sound. However, I claim that the conclusion does not follow merely from the self-defeating attempts to justify the rule of induction, unlike traditional readings of the argument. Rather, the skeptical conclusion must also take into account Hume’s argument that the secret powers that are present in bodies and give rise to sensible qualities are unknowable. The paper’s second …Read more
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41Conventionalism in Early Analytic Philosophy and the Principle of RelativityErkenntnis 87 (2): 827-852. 2020.In this paper I argue that the positivist–conventionalist interpretation of the Restricted Principle of Relativity is flawed, due to the positivists’ own understanding of conventions and their origins. I claim in the paper that, to understand the conventionalist thesis, one has to diambiguate between three types of convention; the linguistic conventions stemming from the fundamental role of mathematical axioms, the conventions stemming from the coordination betweeh theoretical statements and phy…Read more
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37Unnatural acts: The transition from Natural Principles to Laws of Nature in Early Modern scienceStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 81 62-73. 2020.
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32On Newtonian InductionPhilosophy of Science 84 (4): 677-697. 2017.This article examines Newton’s method of induction and its connection to methodological atomism. The article argues that Newton’s Rule III for the Study of Natural Philosophy is a criterion for isolating the primary qualities of the atomic parts; in other words, it interprets Rule III as a transductive inference. It is shown that both the standard inductive and invariance interpretations of Rule III can be subsumed under the transductive view, although the invariance criterion is reinterpreted; …Read more
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153Leibniz and Newton on SpaceFoundations of Science 18 (3): 467-497. 2013.This paper reexamines the historical debate between Leibniz and Newton on the nature of space. According to the traditional reading, Leibniz (in his correspondence with Clarke) produced metaphysical arguments (relying on the Principle of Sufficient Reason and the Principle of Identity of Indiscernibles) in favor of a relational account of space. Newton, according to the traditional account, refuted the metaphysical arguments with the help of an empirical argument based on the bucket experiment. …Read more
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247Newton’s Conceptual Argument for Absolute SpaceInternational Studies in the Philosophy of Science 21 (3). 2007.While many take Newton's argument for absolute space to be an inference to the best explanation, some argue that Newton is primarily concerned with the proper definition of true motion, rather than with independent existence of spatial points. To an extent the latter interpretation is correct. However, all prior interpretations are mistaken in thinking that 'absolute motion' is defined as motion with respect to absolute space. Newton is also using this notion to refer to the quantity of motion (…Read more
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Newton's scientific method and the universal law of gravitationIn Andrew Janiak & Eric Schliesser (eds.), Interpreting Newton: Critical Essays, Cambridge University Press. pp. 138--168. 2012.
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1Physical Systems: Conceptual Pathways Between Spacetime and MatterDissertation, University of Washington. 2004.This dissertation elucidates the notion of physical system which opens new conceptual pathways that connect the three realms of physical theory; spacetime, material bodies and their properties, and the laws of nature which govern their evolution. The notion of physical system includes two presuppositions regarding their structure. The first presupposition is a description of isolated systems and their evolution in time, which amounts to a Paradigm of Uniform Motion. The second presupposition des…Read more
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Tel Aviv UniversityThe Cohn Institute For History And Philosophy of Science And IdeasSenior Lecturer