Natural philosophy and natural theology of Sir Isaac Newton’s “Classical Scholia”

Sharov Konstantin Sergeevich

In this paper, the Classical Scholia of Sir Isaac Newton are studied, that are the additions designed to substantiate the proposals IV-IX of Book III of “Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy”. It is shewn that Newton defended the idea of double reformation (in philosophy and theology), and the Classical Scholia give us a perfect example of this idea. The thoughts about the connection of Newtonianism with the forgotten wisdom of the ancients, are important both within the Classical Scholia themselves and in the context of General Scholium finally added by Newton to the second edition of Principia.

Keywords:Newton, natural philosophy, prisca sapientia, theology, natural theology, the ancient world, the wisdom of the ancients, the Classical Scholia, General Scholium, the Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, Principia