Work Classification Layer
Compare Works
Pick two or more works to set their attribute fingerprints, dimension-by-dimension passages, and shared school embodiments side by side. Especially useful for author-stage comparisons (Wittgenstein early vs late) and for setting a single tradition's foundational texts against each other.
Opticks
The corpuscular theory of light, Newton's rings, the spectrum — and the famous Queries that speculatively probe gravity, ether, life, and the nature of God
Attribute Fingerprint
Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.
| Attribute | Opticks (Late) |
|---|---|
| Time · Extent | Infinite |
| Time · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Time · Grain | Continuous |
| Time · Freedom | Deterministic |
| Time · Traversability | Linear |
| Time · Dimensionality | One |
| Time · Direction | Uni-directional |
| Space · Extent | Infinite |
| Space · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| 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 | Immediate |
| 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 | Finite |
| Energy · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Energy · Conservation | Conserved |
| Energy · Dispersibility | Irreversible |
| Information · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Information · Cosmic Conservation | Conserved |
| Information · Personal Conservation | Conserved |
| Information · Granularity | Discrete |
Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence
What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.
Time
Opticks
Absolute Newtonian time. The optical experiments presuppose a uniform temporal background.
Space
Opticks
Absolute Newtonian space. Light travels through absolute space at definite velocities.
Matter
Opticks
Corpuscular — light itself is composed of small bodies. Newton's mechanical philosophy of matter is consistent across Principia and Opticks.
Observer
Opticks
The Newtonian observer is the experimental natural philosopher using instruments to extend observation. Active, plural in the scientific community.
Energy
Opticks
Conserved in mechanical interactions; the precise modern concept of energy comes later.
Information
Opticks
Real natural information is recovered through careful experiment. Newton's Christianity is genuine; personal information conserved across death.
Internal Tensions
Where each work's argument pulls against itself.
The corpuscular theory of light was overturned in the nineteenth century by the wave theory (Young, Fresnel) and then partially recovered in quantum mechanics (photons). The Queries' speculative metaphysics has been read variously as Newton's deepest philosophical thinking or as careful self-protection against the rigour Newton imposed on his published Principia. Modern Newton scholarship (I. Bernard Cohen, Niccolò Guicciardini) emphasises that Newton was a more speculative metaphysician than the Principia's public method suggests.