Consecuencias políticas del movimiento: John Toland ante Spinoza y Newton

Abstract

En las dos últimas Cartas a Serena (1704), John Toland estudia las concepciones del movimiento presentes en Baruch Spinoza e Isaac Newton. Frente al primero, Toland advierte que no dio un paso que su sistema le exigía, a saber, declarar el movimiento esencial a la materia. Frente al segundo, su advertencia es diferente: Newton sí habría dado ese paso, aunque no habría expuesto públicamente todas las consecuencias que se derivan de este. En ambos casos, lo que nos interesa es la relación entre filosofía natural y filosofía política que Toland detecta y que no siempre ha sido analizada.

In the last two Letters to Serena (1704), John Toland studies the conceptions of motion present in Baruch Spinoza and Isaac Newton. Before the first, Toland notes that he did not take a step that his system required of him, namely, to declare motion essential to matter. In the second case, his warning is different: Newton would have taken that step, although he would not have publicly exposed all the consequences that derive from it. In both cases, what interests us is the relationship between natural philosophy and political philosophy that Toland detects and that has not always been analyzed.