Chap. III. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 27 



CHAP. III. 



Sir Ifaac Newton a man of Science but no Philofopher. — The fame the 

 cafe of Euclid: — This evident from his not difingui/hing Magnitude, 

 the fubjcSl of Geometry, from Number, the fubjt6l of Arithmetic \ — 

 aljo from his defnilion of a Point, in -which he has omitted the ef- 

 fential difference betwixt a Point and a Monade, laid down by Arif- 

 totle, that a Point has a place, which a Monade has not. — Though 

 ignorant of the Philo/ophy of the Sciences of Arithmetic and Geome- 

 try, he treats the Sciences themf elves very accurately. — The fame 

 the cafe of Sir Ifaac Newton with refpect to AJlronomy: — He has ex- 

 plained the laws of the Celefial Motions mofl accurately, but did 

 not know the Philofophy of Motion nor its cau/e. — The knowledge 

 of this the height of Philofophy and even of Theology, God being 

 the original author of all the motions in the fyfiem of the Univerfe. 

 — Sir Ifaac^s ignorance of Philofophy led him to afcribe all Motion 

 to the imfulfe of Body, 



SIR Ifaac was, no doubt, a very good mathematician and a great 

 aftronomer. ' But mathematics and aftronomy are fciences dif- 

 ferent fiom philofophy : And I do not beUeve that Sir Haac was 

 learned in philofophy ; nor did I ever hear that he had ftudied ic 

 or had read any book upon the fubjed. Now, in philofophy are 

 contained the general and fundamental principles of all fciences; and 

 therefore 1 call it the fcience of fciences. A man, therefore, may 

 be learned in any of the inferior fciences, but if ha be not a philofo- 

 pher, he will not know the principles from which that fcience is de- 

 rived. Of this Euclid is a remarkable example. He underftood both 



D 2 , geometry 



