Space and relativity in Newton and Leibniz

In this paper I challenge the usual interpretations of Newton's and Leibniz's views on the nature of space and the relativity of motion. Newton's 'relative space' is not a reference frame: and Leibniz did not regard space as defined with respect to actual enduring bodies. Newton did not subscribe to the relativity of inertial motions; whereas Leibniz believed no body to be at rest, and Newton's absolute motion to be a useful fiction. A more …