Occult qualities

Time is a fundamental property of the physical world. Because time encompasses the antinomic qualities of transience and duration, the definition of time poses a dilemma for the formulation of a comprehensive physical theory. The partial elimination of time is a common solution to this dilemma. In his mechanical philosophy, Newton appears to resort to the elimination of the transient quality of time by identifying time with duration. It is suggested, however, that the transient quality of time may be identified as the active component of the Newtonian concept of inertia, a quasi occult quality of matter that is correlated with change, and that is essential to defining duration. The assignment of the transient quality of time to matter is a necessary consequence of Newton s attempt to render a world system of divine mathematical order. Newton s interest in alchemy reflects this view that matter is active and mutable in nature... 

Henry, J. Occult qualities and the experimental philosophy active principles in pre- Newtonian matter theory. Hist Sci 24 (1986) 335-381. 

Hutchinson, Keith. What happened to occult qualities in the scientific revolution Isis 73 (1982) 233-253. 

Hutchison, Keith. 1982. What Happened to Occult Qualities in the Scientific Revolution Isis 73 267 (1982) 233-53. 

It appears that by 1816, the chemistry of principles is a thing of the past, a doctrine of occult qualities no longer appropriate in chemical explana-... 

John Henry, Occult Qualities and the Experimental Philosophy Active Principles in Pre-Newtonian Matter Theory , History ofScience 24 (1986), 335—81 Keith Hutchison, What Happened to Occult Qualities in the Scientific Revolution , Isis 73 (1982), 233—53. 

Clark, Demons and Disease , 42-4 Clark, Thinking with Demons 226-7 Hutchison, Occult Qualities , 240-1 Pagel, Paracelsus, 174-82 Webster, Great Instauration, 287.1 am not here accounting for the role of the occult in Galenic teachings, on which see for instance, Copenhaver, Scholastic Philosophy and Renaissance Magic , 525-30. 

The third chapter is about the practical application of Boerhaave s Calvinism in his chemistry. I shall pay attention to Boerhaave s definition of chemistry and how he presented a reformed chemistry as distinct from the cormpt chemistry of the so-called false chemists and alchemists. Just as Calvin had argued that God diffused His divine energy in the creation, so Boerhaave introduced occult qualities in his chemistry as the agents of God s providence and divine will. Finally, Boerhaave s emphasis on the limitations of observation and experiment reflects his behef in the inability of man to achieve certainty about the first principles in natural philosophy. 

Shaw s translation of 1741 is much more trustworthy. Although Shaw sometimes quahfied expressions of occult qualities, he tried to stay close to the original text as much as possible, only referring to books and natural philosophers of direct importance. In any case, where he was not happy with Boerhaave s chemistry, he wrote a comment in the footnotes rather than changing the original text. For example, Shaw did not like Boerhaave s alchemy and in the footnotes he wrote ... 

See chapter three. Boerhaave, H. (1732). B lementa chemtae. Leiden ii, 98. Fairly recently historians of science have devoted more attention to the importance of occult quahties in natural philosophy. See Henry, J. (1986). Occult Qualities and the Experimental Philosophy. Histotj of Science, zp 335-381 Schaffer, S. (i Sy). Godly Men and Mechanical Philosophers. Science in Context,... 

Henry, J. (1986). Occult Qualities and the Experimental Philosophy. History of Science, 24, 335-381. 

As we have seen, the mechanical philosophy featured by Boyle and Hoffmann was fundamentally Cartesian. Only extended matter (that which could fill a volume) and motion were acceptable as its principles. Particles of bodies would adhere to one another, Boyle thought, because of their relative shapes. To think that certain particles could have some sort of an affinity to others was to attribute to them specific extra-mechanical properties and thus amounted to an invitation to rejoin the dance with occult qualities. It is now well established that a major influence in Newton s dissent from the Cartesian view was his conviction that treating bodies only as something filling a space led ultimately to atheism. At the same time, he was equally convinced that thinking of matter as possessing inherent (occult) qualities was to admit that the substances of mind and body were the same, and to imply another kind of heresy, namely that God was nature itself. The solution, however, was not to distance God from the material world, but to keep God s hand permanently connected to the actions of the physical universe. The religious Newton was never at odds with the scientific... 

If among the cast of characters our imaginary play had included Friedrich Hoffmann, what Freind has to say next could well have been addressed to him. Those indeed who pretend most to Mechanism, place this active Principle in the Aether, or some extremely subtil Fluid but then I wou d ask the Question, What is it, that actuates this Aether, and constantly preserves it in Motion How comes it to pass, that contrary Motions do not destroy one another And what is it, that determines these Motions, to produce such particular Effects, and no others These must necessarily be Occult Qualities residing in the Aether (pp. 190-191). What a clever ending. The Cartesians themselves can t get along without occult qualities even though they deny their existence. The curtain... 

But Newton perhaps did more for the progress of the human mind than discover this general law of nature he taught men to admit in physics only precise and mathematical theories, which account not merely for the existence of a certain phenomenon but also for its quantity and extension. Nevertheless, he was accused of reviving the occult qualities of the Ancients because he confined himself to locating the general cause of celestial phenomena in one simple fact, whose incontestable reality was proved by observation. And this accusation itself proves how much the methods of science still stood in need of enlightenment from philosophy. 

SUBSTANTIAL FORMS, OCCULT QUALITIES, AND THE LIMITS OF OBSERVABILITY... 

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