יום ב' ,   23.03.09,   18:00 - 20:00
חדר 449 בנין גילמן

דר' אורי בלקינד, מכון כהן
השיטה המדעית של ניוטון והחוק האוניברסלי של הכבידה  

התכנסות לקפה וכיבוד קל בשעה 17:30, ליד חדר 449
 

In this paper I explicate Newton's scientific method and demonstrate how Newton utilized this method to argue for the universal law of gravitation. I argue that Newton has resources to distance himself from the hypothetico-deductive method and that he mostly uses the method of Demonstrative Induction. However, I also demonstrate the importance of an inductive step wherein Newton replaces an empirical claim with a structural assumption that entails it. It is this process of elevating empirical claims into structural assumptions which enables Newton to use Demonstrative Induction for deriving laws that can be true in both actual and counterfactual cases. These structural assumptions are not metaphysically necessary, and can be viewed as local rules of induction.