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Impetus, Renaissance Concept of

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Abstract

The concept of impetus denoted the transmission of a power from the mover to the object moved. Many authors resorted to this concept to explain why a projectile keeps on moving when no longer in contact with its initial mover. But its application went further, as impetus was also appealed to in attempts to explain the acceleration of falling bodies or the motion of the heavens. It was widely applied in Renaissance natural philosophy, but it also raised a number of ontological questions concerning its precise nature.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Philosophy and Moral Science, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium

    Maarten Van Dyck

  2. Department of Philosophy, University of Milan, Milan, Italy

    Ivan Malara

Authors
  1. Maarten Van Dyck
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  2. Ivan Malara
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Correspondence to Maarten Van Dyck .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Philosophy a. Cultural Heritage, Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia Dept. of Philosophy a. Cultural Heritage, Venezia, Italy

    Marco Sgarbi

Section Editor information

  1. Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin, Germany

    Matteo Valleriani

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Van Dyck, M., Malara, I. (2019). Impetus, Renaissance Concept of. In: Sgarbi, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Renaissance Philosophy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02848-4_261-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02848-4_261-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-02848-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-02848-4

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