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Newton’s hypotheses non fingo
- Why is this thing always told in Latin?
- Does Newton put a limit to causality?

Newton’s hypotheses non fingo

Why is this thing always told in Latin?

Does Newton put a limit to causality?

[gemini]

I remember a quote by Newton saying something like the search for causes must stop somewhere. I think he said this regarding the cause of his concept of force or gravity. Do you know any such quote by Newton?

You’re touching on a very deep philosophical point that Newton grappled with, and it’s true that he addressed the idea of a “stopping point” in the search for causes, particularly concerning gravity. While pinning down an exact, concise quote that matches “the search for causes must stop somewhere” can be tricky, the essence of that idea is present in his work, especially in his “Principia Mathematica” and his letters.

Here’s a breakdown of the relevant concepts and where Newton expressed them:

Gravity as a Fundamental Force:

Newton demonstrated that gravity governed the motion of celestial bodies and objects on Earth. However, he famously refrained from offering a definitive explanation of why gravity existed. He focused on how it worked, providing the mathematical laws that described its effects.
He acknowledged that the cause of gravity was a mystery.

“Hypotheses non fingo” (I frame no hypotheses):

This famous Latin phrase from Newton’s work reflects his approach. He aimed to derive conclusions from observations and experiments, rather than speculating about underlying causes that couldn’t be empirically verified.
In the context of gravity, this meant he could describe its effects with precision, but he wouldn’t create unproven hypotheses about its origin.

The Role of God:

Newton, a deeply religious man, often implied that the ultimate cause of gravity, and indeed the entire universe, was God. This could be seen as a form of “stopping point” in the search for causes.
Therefore, in his view, the ultimate cause was God, and that is where the search should stop.

In essence, Newton’s approach was to:

Focus on what could be observed and measured.
Acknowledge the limits of scientific inquiry.
And, in a sense, leave the ultimate “why” questions to philosophy and theology.

Therefore, while a perfect, exact quote might be hard to produce, the idea that the search for causes must stop somewhere is very much in line with Newtons thinking.

[Claude says almost the same things]

Yes, Newton did make statements about the limits of scientific inquiry with respect to gravity and other forces. One of his most famous quotes on this topic comes from a letter he wrote to Richard Bentley in 1693:

You sometimes speak of gravity as essential and inherent to matter. Pray, do not ascribe that notion to me; for the cause of gravity is what I do not pretend to know, and therefore would take more time to consider of it.

In his masterwork “Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica” (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy), Newton also famously wrote:

I have not as yet been able to discover the reason for these properties of gravity from phenomena, and I do not feign hypotheses… It is enough that gravity does exist, that it acts according to the laws which we have explained, and that it serves to explain all the motions of the celestial bodies and of our sea.

These quotes reflect Newton’s position that while he could describe the mathematical laws governing gravity with great precision, he did not claim to know the ultimate cause of gravity itself - recognizing that at some point, the search for causes must indeed stop, at least within the bounds of empirical science.