ABSTRACT
For the ‘mechanical philosophy’ the basic model of efficient causation was impact between moving bodies. Chapters 5 and 6 have discussed various accounts of the metaphysics and physics of impact. A recurring theme has been the distinction between motion considered kinematically, purely in terms of bodily transfer, and motion considered dynamically, that is, in preNewtonian terms, in terms of an underlying force which sustains motion. The distinction raises the question of the metaphysical status of this force and of its ‘transfer’ in collisions from one body to another; and this is the concern of the present chapter.
