As the new philosophy gained in popularity and persuasiveness in England in the later seventeenth century, London physicians became embroiled in a number of disputes. Various aspects of the new philosophy challenged parts of the established outlook held by university-trained physicians. The disputes in which physicians became engaged concerned both intellectual and professional issues, for they involved arguments about both the intellectual foundations and the practice of academic physic. The arguments cannot be characterized simply as quarrels between physicians and their medical rivals, be they apothecaries, chemists, or virtuosi, for the physicians themselves as well as their opponents were divided in their opinions about how they ought to respond to the challenges of the new philosophy. Some physicians vigorously touted the advantages of the new philosophy, while others pointed to the dangers of moving too far from the established ways that made physicians different from other medical practitioners. Because the intellectual issues were so important to the profession of physic, quarrels among physicians and between themselves and others undoubtedly would have arisen in a wide range of circumstances. But in restoration England, a variety of institutional issues complicated the arguments.