Abstract

Isaac Newton’s comments to Richard Bentley on the nature of gravitation and its relationship to matter have been the subject of prolonged interpretative debate. This paper carefully examines the larger context of the epistolary exchange between Bentley and Newton. It shows that Bentley was forwarding a well-worn line of anti-Epicurean argumentation and discusses earlier versions of Bentley’s argument found in the work of authors like Stillingfleet, Boyle, and Charleton. In this argument, what is most important is denying that matter has an essential power of self-motion. The paper argues that Newton was well-positioned to understand Bentley’s sources, motivations, and reasoning. It further argues that his comments on gravity in his letters to Bentley are meant to simply repeat and reinforce, rather than expand on or alter, Bentley’s reasoning. Seen in this light, we have clear reasons to prefer interpretations of Newton’s claims on which he merely denies that gravitation is an essential power of bodies. And we have reason to reject interpretations on which he also denies the possibility of action at a distance or argues that a tertium quid plays an active role in gravitational processes.