|
| We see that /cogitur/ can be translated as "compelled". It
| could equally well be translated as "forced". So Newton is
| saying that the body is forced by a force to change its
| motion. To read this as a statement of causation is a
| treeemendous stretch.
It doesn't strike me as a stretch, much less as a treeemendous stretch.
When I say something forces something else or compels some action to
occur; I usually mean it causes it to happen.
Having said that,
|It is even more of a stretch if the
| statement is read in context, where on many occasions notions
| of causality could have been asserted but are not ... or are
| expressly disclaimed. . . .Also, presumably the words /Hypotheses
| non fingo/ are known and understood by the folks on this list.
|
The context is certainly important in understanding what an author meant
in their writings. The "non fingo . . ." I think indicates rather
conclusively Newton's intentions.
BTW, didn't Laplace also have a similar such quote, though one referring
to religious faith?