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Article ID: CBB934804675

Gravity, Magnetism, Elasticity: the Role of Spontaneous Motion in Borelli's Mechanical Philosophy (2022)

Palmerino, Carla Rita (Author)

Physis: Rivista Internazionale di Storia della Scienza
Volume: 57
Issue: 2
Pages: 331-356

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Gravitation Mechanism; mechanical philosophy Medicine Elasticity Magnetism Motion (physical) 17th century Borelli, Giovanni Alfonso

This article analyses Borelli’s account of gravity, magnetism and the elasticity of air in the De vi percussionis (1667) and De motionibus naturalibus a gravitate pendentibus (1670), with the aim of elucidating the ontological status of moving forces in his mechanical philosophy. Borelli criticizes Gassendi’s and Descartes’s reduction of all physical action to contact action, and argues for the existence of intrinsic motive virtues, which he locates in the spirituous particles composing physical bodies. At the same time, however, he insists on the material character of these virtues (for his spirits are material), and rejects explanations that invoke immaterial attractive forces acting at a distance. This double polemical target explains why Borelli’s language oscillates between teleology (“The movement of heavy bodies is intended to achieve a purpose”) and necessitarianism (heavy bodies move “by blind necessity”). The article also explores the connection between Borelli’s analysis of the spontaneous motions of physical bodies and his account of physiological processes, such as the respiration or the heartbeat, in the De motu ani malium (1680).

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