Understanding (in) Newton’s Argument for Universal Gravitation

@article{Ducheyne2005UnderstandingN,
title={Understanding (in) Newton’s Argument for Universal Gravitation},
author={Steffen Ducheyne},
journal={Journal for General Philosophy of Science},
year={2005},
volume={40},
pages={227-258}
}
• S. Ducheyne
• Published 19 December 2009
• Physics
• Journal for General Philosophy of Science
In this essay, I attempt to assess Henk de Regt and Dennis Dieks recent pragmatic and contextual account of scientific understanding on the basis of an important historical case-study: understanding in Newton’s theory of universal gravitation and Huygens’ reception of universal gravitation. It will be shown that de Regt and Dieks’ Criterion for the Intelligibility of a Theory (CIT), which stipulates that the appropriate combination of scientists’ skills and intelligibility-enhancing theoretical…
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