Hi
I’m looking for a clear definition of spontaneous materialism and how Isaac Newton would have understood it. I look forward to your feedback.
The Speculative Turn: Continental Materialism and Realism
spontaneous materialism: “belief in the real, external and material existence of the object of scientific knowledge that permit knowledge of this object”
The term would have been meaningless to Newton. As those who have used it might well agree.
“Spontaneous materialism” seems to be a specifically Marxist term to refer to those who are unreflectively materialists. It dates back quite a long way; at least to this contribution to Science at the Crossroads, the famous 1931 collection that also contains Boris Hessen’s famous Marxist interpretation of the Principia. Google’s also throwing up references to Lenin, which is presumably the holy text being invoked.
So it’s a Marxist term. Thanks bonzer.
The naïve, or spontaneous, materialism of the ancient Greeks and Romans, which was combined with a naïve dialectics. Ancient science was not subdivided into separate fields, but had a unitary philosophical character—all branches of knowledge came under the aegis of philosophy and were subordinated to it.
Newton was well aware of how progress was made in science and philosophy.
eg Standing on the shoulders of giants - Wikipedia
When you think about it, he actually went into the theoretical physics and turned maths into ideal theories … he used the shapes of the curves rather than just trial and error.
But I dont think he thought of the invalidity of trial and error - he didnt see it as bad as “spontaneous materialism”, Marx Lenin etc are just trying to devalue the materialist by saying theoretical scientists produced good results… so to might their new theory on economics and politics produce a good result ? Not sure why we ask Newton about the invalid comparison between science and propaganda/ dogma … So I propose an addition to the definition of “spontaneous materialism”… .“a name suggesting that trial and error will always mislead” … (Which of course is self defeating as no one had tried communism, so how could they be sure it would work ? It didnt work, trial and error succeeded. )