The Metaphysical Foundations of Modern Physical Science

Abstract

The Metaphysical Foundations of Modern Physical Science is the first historical account of the scientific revolution.1 In this book Burtt placed Newton within a context of culture and religion without devaluing his scientific achievement. But, in a surprising way, the Newtonian world-view is thrown into new light. Burtt claims that the mechanical universe with its Cartesian underpinning, that is, the duality of subject and object, and the mathematization of nature, culminating in "laws of nature," is just "he objectification of the mood of an age, fitful and temporary". Furthermore, scientific claims to truth come at the expense of other means of human knowing which we can not afford to lose. Although the book might be read simply as a polemic against logical positivism, which was competing with pragmatism in the U.S. in the 1920s, it should also be considered as a demonstration of a new philosophy of science. In The Metaphysical Foundations of Modern Physical Science Burtt is saying that science is a culturally conditioned expression of human experience, just one way of knowing among many, and that scientific truth is a changing truth.