I’m still trying to understand the concept of occult better. What do you think about this chain of reasoning:

Occult means hidden.

So what does it mean to say that “Newton’s force is hidden?”

To me this means that Newton’s force is supernatural. And supernatural means outside of nature. That is, force cannot be observed because it is outside of nature.

Consequently, it means it cannot be observed because it is defined in contradiction to the known laws of nature.

Your chain of reasoning highlights a common confusion between “occult” and “supernatural,” but historically and conceptually, they aren’t synonymous in the context of Newton’s work.

Clarifying the Terms:

• Occult:
  The word “occult” indeed derives from the Latin for “hidden.” In the 17th century, when critics described gravity as “occult,” they were emphasizing that it was mysterious—its mechanism was unknown or not explained by the known, tangible interactions (like direct contact or visible mediation). It didn’t necessarily imply that gravity was supernatural, just that its underlying process was not understood within the framework of existing mechanistic explanations.
  
• Supernatural vs. Natural:
  The term “supernatural” generally refers to forces or phenomena that lie outside the realm of nature—implying something metaphysical or not bound by natural laws. Newton, however, considered gravity to be a natural phenomenon. Although he admitted that he did not know the precise mechanism by which gravity acted at a distance, he was confident in its natural basis because its effects could be measured and predicted accurately. Newton famously refrained from speculating on its nature, using the phrase hypotheses non fingo (“I frame no hypotheses”) to indicate that he would stick to what could be observed and calculated.
  

Evaluating Your Reasoning:

• Your reasoning starts with “occult means hidden” and then concludes that if Newton’s force is hidden, it must be supernatural and outside of nature.
  
• The jump from “hidden” to “supernatural” is where the issue arises. In scientific language, something being hidden or not yet understood (occult) does not automatically place it in the realm of the supernatural. It simply means that the underlying mechanism remains undisclosed or unexplained within the current scientific framework.
  
• Newton’s force, while described as occult by some because its mechanism wasn’t mechanistically detailed, was still viewed as a natural force with predictable, measurable effects. It was “hidden” only in the sense that the process by which mass induces gravitational attraction was not directly observable—not because it lay outside of nature.
  

Conclusion:

Newton’s gravitational force is “occult” in the sense that its inner workings were mysterious and not explained by a clear, mechanical process at the time. However, that doesn’t mean it is supernatural or outside of nature. It is part of the natural world, even if its mechanism was hidden from immediate observation. Your reasoning captures one aspect of the term “occult” but conflates the idea of being hidden with being supernatural, which are distinct concepts in this context.