Corpuscularianism

Corpuscularianism, also known as corpuscularism (from Latin corpusculum 'little body' and -ism), is a set of theories that explain natural transformations as a result of the interaction of particles (minima naturalia, partes exiles, partes parvae, particulae, and semina). It differs from atomism in that corpuscles are usually endowed with a property of their own and are further divisible, while atoms are neither. Although often associated with the emergence of early modern mechanical philosophy, and especially with the names of Thomas Hobbes, René Descartes, Pierre Gassendi, Robert Boyle, Isaac Newton, and John Locke, corpuscularian theories can be found throughout the history of Western philosophy.

Matter corpuscles

Corpuscularianism is similar to the theory of atomism, except that where atoms were supposed to be indivisible, corpuscles could in principle be divided. In this manner, for example, it was theorized that mercury could penetrate into metals and modify their inner structure, a step on the way towards the production of gold by transmutation.[citation needed]

Corpuscularianism was associated by its leading proponents with the idea that some of the apparent properties of objects are artifacts of the perceiving mind, that is, "secondary" qualities as distinguished from "primary" qualities. Corpuscles were thought to be unobservable and having a very limited number of basic properties, such as size, shape, and motion.

William R. Newman traces the origins from the fourth book of Aristotle, Meteorology. The "dry" and "moist" exhalations of Aristotle became the alchemical 'sulfur' and 'mercury' of the eighth-century Islamic alchemist, Jābir ibn Hayyān (died c. 806–816). Pseudo-Geber's Summa perfectionis contains an alchemical theory in which unified sulfur and mercury corpuscles, differing in purity, size, and relative proportions, form the basis of a much more complicated process.

Corpuscularianism remained a dominant theory for centuries and was blended with alchemy by early scientists such as Robert Boyle and Isaac Newton in the 17th century. In his work The Sceptical Chymist (1661), Boyle abandoned the Aristotelian ideas of the classical elements—earth, water, air, and fire—in favor of corpuscularianism. In his later work, The Origin of Forms and Qualities (1666), Boyle used corpuscularianism to explain all of the major Aristotelian concepts, marking a departure from traditional Aristotelianism. Boyle used it to develop his mechanical corpuscular philosophy, which laid the foundations for the chemical revolution.

Light corpuscules

Isaac Newton’s corpuscular theory of light proposed that light consists of tiny particles, or corpuscles, traveling in straight lines. In contrast, Christiaan Huygens proposed that light was wave. Until the 18th century, the corpuscular theory successfully explained reflection and refraction but struggled with diffraction. By the early 19th century, experiments by Thomas Young and Augustin-Jean Fresnel conclusively demonstrated the wave nature of light. However, the concept of light as particles resurfaced in the 20th century with the concept of photons, leading to the modern wave-particle duality of light.

Gravitational corpuscles

In antiquity, the idea of gravitational corpuscles was invoked to explain the influence of the Moon over the tides.

When Newton introduced his law of universal gravitation, he considered that it was problematic as it behave as action at a distance. Alternative theories to Newtonian gravity also expanded the use of corpuscles, Le Sage's theory of gravitation of 1748, considered that corpuscles exerted pressure over objects. Also aether theories were suggested to explain gravitation until the development of general relativity in 1915.

Magnetic effluences

Ancient philosopher Empedocles introduced the idea of effluences to explain magnetic forces as seen in lodestones. René Descartes further developed this theory.

Sociology

The philosopher Thomas Hobbes used corpuscularianism to justify his political theories in Leviathan.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Bigotti, Fabrizio (2020), "Corpuscularianism", in Jalobeanu, Dana; Wolfe, Charles T. (eds.), Encyclopedia of Early Modern Philosophy and the Sciences, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 1–13, doi:10.1007/978-3-319-20791-9_133-1, ISBN 978-3-319-20791-9, retrieved 2021-04-12
  2. 1 2 Kenneth Clatterbaugh, The Causation Debate in Modern Philosophy, 1637-1739, Routledge, 2014, p. 69.
  3. ↑ Stephen Gaukroger, Descartes: An Intellectual Biography, Clarendon Press, 1995, p. 228.
  4. 1 2 Slowik, E. (2021). Zalta, E. N. (ed.). "Descartes' Physics". The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2021 ed.).
  5. 1 2 3 Vere Claiborne Chappell (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Locke, Cambridge University Press, 1994, p. 56.
  6. ↑ MacIntosh, J. J.; Anstey, P.; Jones, J-E. (2022). Zalta, E. N.; Nodelman, U. (eds.). "Robert Boyle". The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2022 ed.).
  7. 1 2 virginia.edu – Newton's Particle Theory of Light Lecture notes. Lindgren, Richard A. Research Professor of Physics. University of Virginia, Department of Physics.
  8. ↑ Kochiras, H. (2020). Zalta, E. N. (ed.). "Locke's Philosophy of Science". The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2020 ed.).
  9. ↑ Jones, J-E. (2023). Zalta, E. N.; Nodelman, U. (eds.). "Locke on Real Essence". The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2023 ed.).
  10. ↑ Levere, Trevor (2001). Transforming matter : a history of chemistry from alchemy to the buckyball. The Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 7–8. ISBN 0-8018-6610-3.
  11. ↑ The Mechanical Philosophy Archived June 11, 2008, at the Wayback Machine - Early modern 'atomism' ("corpuscularianism" as it was known)
  12. ↑ Lüthy, Murdoch & Newman 2001, p. 306.
  13. ↑ Newman 2006, p. 13. On the sulfur-mercury theory of metals, see Norris 2006, and especially Newman 2014.
  14. ↑ Osler, Margaret J. (2010). Reconfiguring the World. Nature, God, and Human Understanding, from the Middle Ages to Early-Modern Europe. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 127. ISBN 978-0-8018-9656-9.
  15. ↑ Ursula Klein (July 2007), "Styles of Experimentation and Alchemical Matter Theory in the Scientific Revolution", Metascience, 16 (2), Springer: 247–256 esp. 247, doi:10.1007/s11016-007-9095-8, ISSN 1467-9981
  16. ↑ Berkovitz, Joseph (2008), Zalta, Edward N. (ed.), "Action at a Distance in Quantum Mechanics", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2008 ed.), Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University, retrieved 2025-03-03

Bibliography

Further reading