1. This phrase is used for motion without contact
   
2. Only other motion can create motion so there needs to be contact
   
3. But Newton assumed that motion without contact was possible and he used rhetorical sophistry to justify this
   
4. Newton says he does not know the cause of action-at-a-distance motion. This is his sophistry
   
5. He doesn’t need to know its cause because there is no cause because there is no motion without contact
   
6. Newton is trying to hide that he is using Kepler’s non-dynamical Rule
   

1. Something, an agent, an unknown agent, a mysterious and hidden agent, sets distant objects in motion.
   
2. But motion can only be transferred. Ho new motion can be created.
   
3. Newton’s force is not a “thing” that has a property of moving. Newton’s force does not have motion therefore it cannot impart or transfer motion on distand objects.
   
4. This argument is so simple and clear that if Newton’s force is defined as an action-at-a-distance force, and it is defined as such, it cannot exist in this world by definition. There is nothing to argue about Newton’s silly force.
   

[ Claude ]

I think that the main motivation for Einstein to develop his theories was to free physics from Newton’s supernatural cause called force. Do we have any reliable quotes where Einstein mentions his dislike of Newton’s action-at-distance force?

Einstein did indeed have concerns about Newton’s concept of action-at-a-distance forces, though his primary motivation was more about resolving inconsistencies between Newtonian mechanics and electromagnetism (particularly as described by Maxwell’s equations).

There are several reliable quotes where Einstein discusses his discomfort with Newton’s concept of action-at-a-distance:

1. In his 1954 book “Ideas and Opinions,” Einstein wrote: “The special theory of relativity owes its origin to Maxwell’s equations of the electromagnetic field. Inversely, the latter can be grasped formally in a satisfactory way only by way of the special theory of relativity… Newton’s theory of action at a distance is now being replaced by field theory.”
   
2. In a 1935 paper with Podolsky and Rosen (the famous EPR paper), Einstein wrote: “If, without in any way disturbing a system, we can predict with certainty the value of a physical quantity, then there exists an element of physical reality corresponding to this physical quantity.” This reflects his discomfort with quantum mechanical interpretations that seemed to permit action-at-a-distance.
   
3. In correspondence with Max Born in 1947, Einstein wrote: “I cannot seriously believe in [quantum mechanics] because the theory cannot be reconciled with the idea that physics should represent a reality in time and space, free from spooky action at a distance.”
   

Einstein’s main concern was creating a coherent field theory that could explain physical phenomena without instantaneous action-at-a-distance. His general theory of relativity represented his attempt to replace Newtonian gravity with curved spacetime geometry, eliminating the need for forces acting instantaneously across distances.

His work was motivated by resolving theoretical inconsistencies and creating a more elegant, field-based description of physics rather than specifically “freeing physics from Newton’s supernatural cause.”