Émilie Du Châtelet and the Foundations of Physical Science

Émilie Du Châtelet and the Foundations of Physical Science
Author: Katherine Brading
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 180
Release: 2019-01-15
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0429787197

The centerpiece of Émilie Du Châtelet’s philosophy of science is her Foundations of Physics, first published in 1740. The Foundations contains epistemology, metaphysics, methodology, mechanics, and physics, including such pressing issues of the time as whether there are atoms, the appropriate roles of God and of hypotheses in scientific theorizing, how (if at all) bodies are capable of acting on one another, and whether gravity is an action-at-a-distance force. Du Châtelet sought to resolve these issues within a single philosophical framework that builds on her critique and appraisal of all the leading alternatives (Cartesian, Newtonian, Leibnizian, and so forth) of the period. The text is remarkable for being the first to attempt such a synthetic project, and even more so for the accessibility and clarity of the writing. This book argues that Du Châtelet put her finger on the central problems that lay at the intersection of physics and metaphysics at the time, and tackled them drawing on the most up-to-date resources available. It will be a useful source for students and scholars interested in the history and philosophy of science, and in the impact of women philosophers in the early modern period.

Selected Philosophical and Scientific Writings

Selected Philosophical and Scientific Writings
Author: Emilie Du Châtelet
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 454
Release: 2009-09-15
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0226168085

Though most historians remember her as the mistress of Voltaire, Emilie Du Châtelet (1706–49) was an accomplished writer in her own right, who published multiple editions of her scientific writings during her lifetime, as well as a translation of Newton’s Principia Mathematica that is still the standard edition of that work in French. Had she been a man, her reputation as a member of the eighteenth-century French intellectual elite would have been assured. In the 1970s, feminist historians of science began the slow work of recovering Du Châtelet’s writings and her contributions to history and philosophy. For this edition, Judith P. Zinsser has selected key sections from Du Châtelet’s published and unpublished works, as well as related correspondence, part of her little-known critique of the Old and New Testaments, and a treatise on happiness that is a refreshingly uncensored piece of autobiography—making all of them available for the first time in English. The resulting volume will recover Châtelet’s place in the pantheon of French letters and culture.

Emilie du Châtelet between Leibniz and Newton

Emilie du Châtelet between Leibniz and Newton
Author: Ruth Hagengruber
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 264
Release: 2011-10-29
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9400720939

Emilie du Châtelet was one of the most influential woman philosophers of the Enlightenment. Her writings on natural philosophy, physics, and mechanics had a decisive impact on important scientific debates of the 18th century. Particularly, she took an innovative and outstanding position in the controversy between Newton and Leibniz, one of the fundamental scientific discourses of that time. The contributions in this volume focus on this "Leibnitian turn". They analyze the nature and motivation of Emilie du Châtelet's synthesis of Newtonian and Leibnitian philosophy. Apart from the Institutions Physiques they deal with Emilie du Châtelet's annotated translation of Isaac Newton's Principia. The chapters presented here collectively demonstrate that her work was an essential contribution to the mediation between empiricist and rationalist positions in the history of science.

Emilie Du Chatelet

Emilie Du Chatelet
Author: Judith P. Zinsser
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 404
Release: 2007-11-27
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1101201843

The captivating biography of the French aristocrat who balanced the demands of her society with passionate affairs of the heart and a brilliant life of the mind Although today she is best known for her fifteen-year liaison with Voltaire, Gabrielle Emilie le Tonnelier de Breteuil, Marquise Du Châtelet (1706-1749) was more than a great man's mistress. After marrying a marquis at the age of eighteen, she proceeded to fulfill the prescribed-and delightfully frivolous-role of a French noblewoman of her time. But she also challenged it, conducting a highly visible affair with a commoner, writing philosophical works, and translating Newton's Principia while pregnant by a younger lover. With the sweep of Galileo's Daughter, Emilie Du Châtelet captures the charm, glamour, and brilliance of this magnetic woman.

Reason, Illusion, and Passion

Reason, Illusion, and Passion
Author: Émilie du Châtelet
Publisher:
Total Pages: 58
Release: 2019-09-16
Genre:
ISBN: 9781693596483

The amazing scientist, mathematician, philosopher Émilie du Châtelet (1706-49) has widely been hailed as a rare female intellectual in the Enlightenment. At the same time, her own ideas and contributions remain largely unknown and her writings are rarely read. This is unfortunate, since she has interesting contributions to and explanations of physics, metaphysics, religion, translation, the equality of the sexes, and ethics.This book is a selection of du Châtelet's philosophical writings, in new English translations: -Foreword to "Foundations of Physics"-On the Principles of Our Knowledge (From "Foundations of Physics")-On the Existence of God (From "Foundations of Physics")-On Liberty-Translator's Preface to Mandeville's "Fable of the Bees"-On the Resurrection of the Dead (from "Examinations of the Bible")-On Happiness

The Routledge Handbook of Women and Early Modern European Philosophy

The Routledge Handbook of Women and Early Modern European Philosophy
Author: Karen Detlefsen
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 655
Release: 2023-06-19
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1315449994

The Routledge Handbook of Women and Early Modern European Philosophy is an outstanding reference source for the wide range of philosophical contributions made by women writing in Europe from about 1560 to 1780. It shows the range of genres and methods used by women writing in these centuries in Europe, thus encouraging an expanded understanding of our historical canon. Comprising 46 chapters by a team of contributors from all over the globe, including early career researchers, the Handbook is divided into the following sections: I. Context II. Themes A. Metaphysics and Epistemology B. Natural Philosophy C. Moral Philosophy D. Social-Political Philosophy III. Figures IV. State of the Field The volume is essential reading for students and researchers in philosophy who are interested in expanding their understanding of the richness of our philosophical past, including in order to offer expanded, more inclusive syllabi for their students. It is also a valuable resource for those in related fields like gender and women’s studies; history; literature; sociology; history and philosophy of science; and political science.

The Routledge Handbook of Feminist Philosophy of Science

The Routledge Handbook of Feminist Philosophy of Science
Author: Sharon Crasnow
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 485
Release: 2020-11-30
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0429018215

The Routledge Handbook of Feminist Philosophy of Science is a comprehensive resource for feminist thinking about and in the sciences. Its 33 chapters were written exclusively for this Handbook by a group of leading international philosophers as well as scholars in gender studies, women’s studies, psychology, economics, and political science. The chapters of the Handbook are organized into four main parts: I. Hidden Figures and Historical Critique II. Theoretical Frameworks III. Key Concepts and Issues IV. Feminist Philosophy of Science in Practice. The chapters in this extensive, fourth part examine the relevance of feminist philosophical thought for a range of scientific and professional disciplines, including biology and biomedical sciences; psychology, cognitive science, and neuroscience; the social sciences; physics; and public policy. The Handbook gives a snapshot of the current state of feminist philosophy of science, allowing students and other newcomers to get up to speed quickly in the subfield and providing a handy reference for many different kinds of researchers.

Euler as Physicist

Euler as Physicist
Author: Dieter Suisky
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 357
Release: 2008-12-05
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3540748652

The subject of the book is the development of physics in the 18th century centered upon the fundamental contributions of Leonhard Euler to physics and mathematics. This is the first book devoted to Euler as a physicist. Classical mechanics are reconstructed in terms of the program initiated by Euler in 1736 and its completion over the following decades until 1760. The book examines how Euler coordinated his progress in mathematics with his progress in physics.

Current Debates in Philosophy of Science

Current Debates in Philosophy of Science
Author: Cristián Soto
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 459
Release: 2023-08-28
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3031323750

This volume collects previously unpublished contributions to the philosophy of science. What brings them together is a twofold goal: first and foremost, celebrating the name of Roberto Torretti, whose works in this and other areas have had –and continue to have– a significant impact on the international philosophy of science community; and second, the desire of advancing novel perspectives on various issues in the philosophy of science broadly construed. Roberto Torretti has made substantial contributions to current debates in the history and philosophy of science, the general philosophy of science, and the philosophy of physics and geometry. Among his landmark contributions, we find his investigations in the history and philosophy of geometry, as well as his systematic studies of Einstein's relativity theory. This volume convenes leading philosophers and early-career scholars compiling a fine collection of chapters addressing recent debates on Kantian philosophy of science, the general philosophy of science, and the history and philosophy of physics and mathematics.