On Seventeenth-Century Theories of the Genesis of the World and Newtonian John Kaill's Critiques of Cartesian Natural Philosophy and Mechanistic Materialism

Abstract

Under Descartes´' influence, several British natural philosophers, among them Thomas Burnet, offered purely mechanical explanations of the genesis of the world. However, these explanations conflicted with the scriptures. Newton´s followers -for instance: Richard Bentley, Samuel Clarke, and Hohn Keill- confronted these authors. In An Examination of Dr. Burnet´s theory of Earth, Keill criticized Burnet´s ideas, together with their cartesian foundation, on the basis of Newtonian physics. In this way, Keill put forward a firm defense of final causes and constant intervention of Divine providence in the world.