Corpuscularianism

Corpuscularianism, also known as corpuscularism (from Latin corpusculum 'little body' and -ism), is a set of theories that explain natural transformations as a result of the interaction of particles (minima naturalia, partes exiles, partes parvae, particulae, and semina).[1] It differs from atomism in that corpuscles are usually endowed with a property of their own and are further divisible, while atoms are neither. Although often associated with the emergence of early modern mechanical philosophy, and especially with the names of Thomas Hobbes,[2] René Descartes,[3][4] Pierre Gassendi,[5] Robert Boyle,[5][6] Isaac Newton,[7] and John Locke,[5][8][9] corpuscularian theories can be found throughout the history of Western philosophy.

  1. ^ Bigotti, Fabrizio (2020), "Corpuscularianism", in Jalobeanu, Dana; Wolfe, Charles T. (eds.), Encyclopedia of Early Modern Philosophy and the Sciences, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 1–13, doi:10.1007/978-3-319-20791-9_133-1, ISBN 978-3-319-20791-9, retrieved 2021-04-12
  2. ^ Kenneth Clatterbaugh, The Causation Debate in Modern Philosophy, 1637-1739, Routledge, 2014, p. 69.
  3. ^ Stephen Gaukroger, Descartes: An Intellectual Biography, Clarendon Press, 1995, p. 228.
  4. ^ Slowik, E. (2021). Zalta, E. N. (ed.). "Descartes' Physics". The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2021 ed.).
  5. ^ a b c Vere Claiborne Chappell (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Locke, Cambridge University Press, 1994, p. 56.
  6. ^ MacIntosh, J. J.; Anstey, P.; Jones, J-E. (2022). Zalta, E. N.; Nodelman, U. (eds.). "Robert Boyle". The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2022 ed.).
  7. ^ virginia.edu – Newton's Particle Theory of Light Lecture notes. Lindgren, Richard A. Research Professor of Physics. University of Virginia, Department of Physics.
  8. ^ Kochiras, H. (2020). Zalta, E. N. (ed.). "Locke's Philosophy of Science". The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2020 ed.).
  9. ^ Jones, J-E. (2023). Zalta, E. N.; Nodelman, U. (eds.). "Locke on Real Essence". The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2023 ed.).