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From Jurisprudence to Mechanics: Jacobi, Reech, and Poincaré on Convention

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2018

María de Paz
María de Paz*
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy, Logic and Philosophy of Science, Universidad de Sevilla Email: [email protected]
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Argument

This paper aims at understanding the concept of convention in mechanics as a notion transferred from the field of jurisprudence. This enables us to clarify it as a new epistemic category having a pertinent role in the transformation of mechanics in the nineteenth century. Such understanding permits a separation from linguistic and arbitrary conventions, thus highlighting its epistemic features and not transforming fundamental principles into mere arbitrary agreements. After addressing the main references in the literature discussing the role of convention in mechanics, we analyze its classical use as a concept originating from law. Then we explain its use by Carl G. Jacobi, Ferdinand F. Reech, and J. Henri Poincaré. Here we also show how their uses conform to the features analyzed regarding conventions in jurisprudence. Finally, we try to explain how the use of this concept, among other factors, contributed to the transformation of mechanics.

Type
Research Article
Information
Science in Context , Volume 31 , Issue 2 , June 2018 , pp. 223 - 250
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

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