Recepcja myśli Isaaca Newtona w polskiej filozofii eksperymentalnej na przykładzie dyskusji o prawach natury (Jan Śniadecki)
Newton’s Reception in Polish Experimental Philosophy: The Case of the Laws of Nature as discussed by Jan Śniadecki

Author(s): Hanna Szabelska
Subject(s): Cultural history, Studies of Literature, Theory of Literature
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: Newton; Jan Śniadecki; Jan Bohomolec; laws of nature; modern scientific notion; descriptive law of nature; experiment; superstition; comet; prescriptive law of nature; experimental philosophy; empiric
Summary/Abstract: The essay examines the reception of Newton’s legacy, in particular, of his concept of laws of nature, in writings by Jan Śniadecki. As Peter Anstey has recently shown, the modern concept of scientific, i.e. descriptive law of nature emerged and was developed in two stages: a speculative (Descartes) and an experimental (Newton). Śniadecki’s concept of scientific law is both descriptive and experimental, and thus is to be taken as a model example of the second stage. This claim can be fleshed out by comparing Śniadecki to Jan Bohomolec. While traditionally established as an emblem of campaigns against cometary superstition (Bad or Good Omen: Comets of the Year 1769 and 1770), Bohomolec does resort to the concept of prescriptive law of nature, directly governed by divine legislation. This sheds new light on Śniadecki’s scientific achievements as an experimental philosopher par excellence that dismissed the term ‘empiricism’ as a Kantian novelty.

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