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Work #1218 · Mid

De Motu

George Berkeley
1721 · Latin
Philosophy of physics / Latin treatise · Early-modern philosophy / Philosophy of physics / Immaterialism

Berkeley's 1721 Latin treatise — instrumentalist philosophy of physics; against Newtonian absolute space

Attribute Fingerprint

Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.

Attribute De Motu (Mid)
Time · Extent Infinite
Time · Ontological Status Relational
Time · Grain Continuous
Time · Freedom Deterministic
Time · Traversability Linear
Time · Dimensionality One
Time · Direction Uni-directional
Space · Extent Infinite
Space · Ontological Status Relational
Space · Curvature Flat
Space · Dimensionality Three
Space · Locality Local
Matter · Extent Infinite
Matter · Ontological Status Substantival
Matter · Conservation Conserved
Matter · Dimensionality Three
Matter · Locality Local
Observer · Time Instance Single
Observer · Space Instance Single
Observer · Knowledge Extent Partial
Observer · Knowledge Retainment Total
Observer · Physicality Embodied
Observer · Agency Active
Observer · Number Plural
Observer · Metaphysical Agency Personal
Observer · Moral Authority Reason
Observer · Theological Method
Energy · Extent Infinite
Energy · Ontological Status Substantival
Energy · Conservation Conserved
Energy · Dispersibility Irreversible
Information · Ontological Status Substantival
Information · Cosmic Conservation Conserved
Information · Personal Conservation Conserved
Information · Granularity Continuous

Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence

What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.

Time

De Motu

The 1721 mid-Berkeley philosophical period.

Space

De Motu

The early-eighteenth-century philosophical-physical conversation.

Matter

De Motu

The moving bodies whose motion the treatise analyses.

Observer

De Motu

The physical-philosophical investigator as proper subject.

Energy

De Motu

The proper-physical energies of motion.

Information

De Motu

The philosophy-of-physics content of the treatise.

Internal Tensions

Where each work's argument pulls against itself.

De Motu

De Motu was widely overlooked by contemporary Newtonian science; subsequent philosophy-of-physics work (Mach, Einstein) substantially vindicated the relationalist-instrumentalist framework.