Without God: Gravity as a Relational Quality of Matter in Newton’s Treatise

In this chapter I interpret Newton’s speculative treatment of gravity as a relational, accidental quality of matter that arises through what Newton calls “the shared action” of two bodies. In doing so, I expand and extend on Howard Stein’s views (Stein 2002). However, in developing the details of my interpretation I end up disagreeing with Stein’s claim that for Newton a single body can generate a gravity/force fi eld.