The Idea of Principles in Early Modern Thought - 9781138211582

Taylor & Francis

The Idea of Principles in Early Modern ThoughtInterdisciplinary Perspectives\nAuthor(s): Peter R. Anstey\nFormat: Hardback\nPublisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd, United Kingdom\nImprint: Routledge\nISBN-13: 9781138211582, 978-1138211582\nSynopsis\nThis collection presents the first sustained examination of the nature and status of the idea of principles in early modern thought. Principles are almost ubiquitous in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries: the term appears in famous book titles, such as Newtons Principia; the notion plays a central role in the thought of many leading philosophers, such as Leibnizs Principle of Sufficient Reason; and many of the great discoveries of the period, such as the Law of Gravitational Attraction, were described as principles.\n\nRanging from mathematics and law to chemistry, from natural and moral philosophy to natural theology, and covering some of the leading thinkers of the period, this volume presents ten compelling new essays that illustrat.