  In her opening comments on hypotheses, Du Châtelet writes: “The true causes of natural effects and of the phenomena we observe are often so far from the principles on which we can rely and the experiments we can make that one is obliged to be content with probable reasons [hypotheses] to explain them” (IP §53 emphasis added; c.f. §56). She anticipates that these probable reasons aim at truth about the causal structure of the world and not just at an accurate description and prediction of phenomena. This is interesting because this situates Du Châtelet squarely within one particular tradition with respect to hypotheses. Historically, there have been two key directions in which thinking about hypotheses developed, indeed from Ancient times, and certainly throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries as well. According to one  approach—typified by Ptolemy in pre-modern thought and sometimes associated with “save the phenomena” type  explanations—hypotheses are posited merely because they are useful instruments, mere mathematical calculating devices especially useful for prediction and scientific practice. The aim with hypotheses, according to this approach, is not to propose a true account of the nature of things since reaching true conclusions about the world is not necessarily relevant when formulating hypotheses according to this tradition which focuses more pointedly on prediction. According to the second approach—typified by Aristotle in pre-modern thought and sometimes associated with causal explanations—hypotheses are posited in order to provide an explanation of how experienced effects might have come about. The aim is to give a true account of the nature of things, especially the causal nature of  things.[22] In starting off her chapter on hypotheses with a mention of “the true causes of natural effects”, Du Châtelet indicates her commitment to the Aristotelian tradition vis à viz hypotheses, a point which becomes abundantly clear as her chapter on hypotheses proceeds.