Émilie du Châtelet

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Émilie du Châtelet

1706–1749

A first way ina deliberate simplification – the portrait says more

Physics needs both Newton’s precise laws and Leibniz’s deeper principles – and hypotheses are legitimate tools of science, not something to avoid.

Placement

Empiricism, Enlightenment & Liberalism · Western Europe · Science, Metaphysics, Epistemology

Physicist and philosopher at Cirey: her “Foundations of Physics” joined Newton’s mechanics to Leibniz’s metaphysics, and her French translation of the “Principia” is still the standard one.

Key ideas

Newton joined with Leibniz
Living force (vis viva)
Hypotheses as tools of science

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Influence

Influenced by 5

John Locke

influenced by
In the Institutions de physique (1740) Du Châtelet set aside Locke’s modest view of metaphysics, arguing with Leibniz’s sufficient reason that Newtonian physics needs firmer metaphysical foundations. É. Du Châtelet, Institutions de physique (1740); R. Hagengruber (ed.), Emilie du Châtelet between Leibniz and Newton (2012); SEP “Émilie Du Châtelet”
Evidence: AI draft
John Locke › 1632–1704
Isaac Newton

influenced by ✓
Du Châtelet translated Newton’s Principia into French with a commentary of her own, completed shortly before her death in 1749 and published in 1756/1759. I. Newton, Principes mathématiques de la philosophie naturelle, tr. É. Du Châtelet (1756/1759); SEP “Émilie Du Châtelet”
Evidence: also in Wikidata · Wikidata
Isaac Newton › 1643–1727
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz

influenced by ✓
In the Institutions de physique (1740) Du Châtelet grounded Newtonian physics on Leibniz’s principles of contradiction and sufficient reason and defended his measure of living force. É. Du Châtelet, Institutions de physique (1740; 2nd ed. 1742); SEP “Émilie Du Châtelet”
Evidence: also in Wikidata · Wikidata
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz › 1646–1716
Christian Wolff

influenced by
The metaphysics of Du Châtelet’s Institutions de physique (1740) follows Wolff’s version of Leibniz, learned from her tutor Samuel König, who had studied with Wolff. É. Du Châtelet, Institutions de physique (1740); SEP “Émilie Du Châtelet”
Evidence: AI draft
Christian Wolff › 1679–1754
Voltaire influenced

influenced by ✓
At Cirey, where she lived with Voltaire from 1734, Du Châtelet worked with him on Newton; for the Academy’s prize on fire (1738) she wrote her own essay. É. Du Châtelet, Dissertation sur la nature et la propagation du feu (1739; rev. 1744); Voltaire, Essai sur la nature du feu (1739); SEP “Émilie Du Châtelet”
Evidence: also in Wikidata · Wikidata
influenced
Voltaire wrote his Elements of Newton’s Philosophy (1738) at Cirey with Du Châtelet’s help and acknowledged her in its dedication and frontispiece. Voltaire, Éléments de la philosophie de Newton (1738); SEP “Émilie Du Châtelet”
Evidence: AI draft
Voltaire › 1694–1778

Criticism

Criticized by 1

Immanuel Kant

criticised by
In his first book (Living Forces, 1746/49) Kant discussed du Châtelet’s Leibnizian arguments for vis viva against Mairan and rejected parts of them. I. Kant, Gedanken von der wahren Schätzung der lebendigen Kräfte (1746/49), §§ 44, 57, 111 (AA I 55–56, 67, 124); R. Hagengruber (ed.), Emilie du Châtelet between Leibniz and Newton (2012)
Evidence: AI draft
Immanuel Kant › 1724–1804

Works

1740Foundations of Physics (Institutions de physique)
Leibnizian metaphysics – sufficient reason, living force – as the foundation of Newtonian physics, written for her son.
c. 1746Discourse on Happiness
Happiness needs passions, illusions and study – advice for a woman without power over the world. Published posthumously in 1779.

Position

Her “Foundations of Physics” was meant as a textbook for her son but is a work of original synthesis. Newton’s physics, she argues, needs metaphysical foundations that Newton did not supply: Leibniz’s principles of contradiction and sufficient reason, and his conception of living force (vis viva, proportional to mass times velocity squared), which she defended against the Cartesian and Newtonian measure of force. She defends hypotheses, rejected by Newton, as indispensable when properly tested. Her translation of the “Principia” with commentary remains the French standard. The “Discourse on Happiness” holds that happiness requires passions, illusions, health and the love of study, the surest resource for a woman shut out of public life.

Life & context

Émilie du Châtelet (1706–1749), born into the French court nobility, was educated privately in languages and mathematics. From 1734 she lived with Voltaire at her husband’s château at Cirey, where they built a laboratory and library; she studied with Maupertuis and Clairaut, competed anonymously for an Academy prize on the nature of fire, and translated Newton’s “Principia”. She died shortly after giving birth, having finished the translation.