Introduction
We may distinguish two interpretations of the relation between Newton’s natural philosophy and Hume’s science of human nature. The first interpretation can be called “traditional,” the second “critical.”
The traditional interpretation (Capaldi 1975; Force 1987; Buckle 2004; De Pierris 2006; Millican 2007; Slavov 2013; Brown and Morris 2014) suggests that in laying the foundations for his science of humanity, Hume imitated Newton’s natural philosophy. He incorporated Newtonian methodology and reasoning in his overall philosophical project. The central tenet in the traditional outlook is Hume’s adoption of Newton’s anti-hypothetical experimentalism. Perhaps the clearest example of a reading like this is provided by Charlotte Randall Brown and William Edward Morris (2014, 19, 23). In their view,
Hume, like Newton, is opposed to philosophers and scientists advancing speculative hypotheses and imposing their conjectures and fancies on us […] Newton’s scientific method provides...
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Slavov, M. (2020). Newton and Hume. In: Jalobeanu, D., Wolfe, C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Early Modern Philosophy and the Sciences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20791-9_109-1
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