An incorporeal field of influence, or immaterial body could not perform these functions because they have no physical construction with which to perform these functions. Following Newton, it became customary to accept action at a distance as brute fact, and to overlook the philosophical problems involved in so doing.
Because incorporeal entities lack a physical form, they are incapable of performing these functions. This idea was adopted by many, including Newton, who accepted action at a distance as a fundamental reality without questioning its philosophical basis.