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Introduction

Isaac Newton's influence on Thomas Reid was considerable and unique. Except for a small number of disagreements (some made explicit by Reid and some not) Reid's loyalty to Newton never failed. Reid took Newton's physics to be a true account of the physical world, and he took Newton's philosophy of science to give a correct notion of the nature of empirical research, and he took the former to be a natural and unique outcome of the latter. This makes three useful notions of being a 'Newtonian'. Add to that, that Reid agreed generally with the Theism Newton expressed in the General Scholium which concludes his Principia, and that he most probably agreed with Boyle lecturers Richard Bentley, Clarke, and William Whiston, that Newton's physics supports Theism, and we have another two aspects of Reid's Newtonianism.

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