The Cambridge Platonists in Philosophical Context

The Cambridge Platonists in Philosophical Context
Author: G.A. Rogers
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 259
Release: 2013-03-14
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 940158933X

The Cambridge Platonists were defenders of tolerance in the political as well as the moral sphere ; they held that practical j u d g e m e n t came down in the last instance to individual conscience ; and they laid the foundations of our modern conceptions of conscience and liberty. But at the same time they ma intained the existence of eternal truths , and of a Good-in-itself , identical with Truth and Being, refusing to admit that freedom of conscience i m p li e d moral relativism. They were critics of dogmatism, and of the sectarian notion of "enthusiasm" as a source of illumination , on the grounds that both were disruptive of social harmony; they pleaded the cause of reason , in the hope that it could become the foundation of all human knowledge . Yet , for all that , they ma intained that a certain sort of mystical illumination lay at the heart of all true thought , and that human reason had validity only in virtue of i t s divine origin . They debated with Des cartes and took a keen interest in his mech- ism and his dualism ; they brought the atomistic theories of Democritus back into repute; and they sought to provide a detailed account of the causality link ing all phenomena.

The Cambridge Platonists

The Cambridge Platonists
Author: C. A. Patrides
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 380
Release: 1980-11-06
Genre: Literary Collections
ISBN: 9780521299428

This volume contains selected discourses chosen to illustrate the tenets characteristic of the influential movement known as Cambridge Platonism.

The Cambridge Platonists and Early Modern Philosophy

The Cambridge Platonists and Early Modern Philosophy
Author: Samuel M. Kaldas
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 329
Release: 2024-05-16
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1009426907

Often neglected by historians today, the seventeenth-century philosophers known as the Cambridge Platonists were recognised in their time as some of the most influential and controversial philosophers in England. Whereas most studies of the Cambridge Platonists have discussed their later careers, this book focuses on their early, formative years at Cambridge during the English Civil Wars. Samuel M. Kaldas explores how the Cambridge Platonists addressed issues central to philosophy of religion as we know it today through their engagement with early seventeenth-century religious controversies about predestination, the character and nature of God, and the role of reason in religion. His study serves as an accessible introduction to both the Cambridge Platonists, and to English religious controversies that contributed to the birth of the modern philosophy of religion. At the same time, Kaldas provides context for and fresh insights into the Cambridge Platonists' intellectual development and the coherence of their thought.

Revisioning Cambridge Platonism: Sources and Legacy

Revisioning Cambridge Platonism: Sources and Legacy
Author: Douglas Hedley
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 270
Release: 2020-01-01
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 3030222004

This volume contains essays that examine the work and legacy of the Cambridge Platonists. The essays reappraise the ideas of this key group of English thinkers who served as a key link between the Renaissance and the modern era. The contributors examine the sources of the Cambridge Platonists and discuss their take-up in the eighteenth-century. Readers will learn about the intellectual formation of this philosophical group as well as the reception their ideas received. Coverage also details how their work links to earlier Platonic traditions. This interdisciplinary collection explores a broad range of themes and an appropriately wide range of knowledge. It brings together an international team of scholars. They offer a broad combination of expertise from across the following disciplines: philosophy, Neoplatonic studies, religious studies, intellectual history, seventeenth-century literature, women’s writing, and dissenting studies.The essays were originally presented at a series of workshops in Cambridge on the Cambridge Platonists funded by the AHRC.

The Cambridge Platonists and Early Modern Philosophy

The Cambridge Platonists and Early Modern Philosophy
Author: Samuel M. Kaldas
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 329
Release: 2024-05-16
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1009426915

Samuel M. Kaldas' study explores the development and influence of the early modern philosophers known as the Cambridge Platonists.

Henry More, 1614-1687

Henry More, 1614-1687
Author: R. Crocker
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 293
Release: 2013-03-09
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9401702179

This is the first modern biography to place Henry More’s (1614-1687) religious and philosophical preoccupations centre-stage, and to provide a coherent interpretation of his work from a consideration of his own writings, their contexts and aims. It is also the first study of More to exploit the full range of his prolific writings and a number of unknown manuscripts relating to his life. It contains an annotated handlist of his extant correspondence.

Platonist Philosophy 80 BC to AD 250

Platonist Philosophy 80 BC to AD 250
Author: George Boys-Stones
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 664
Release: 2017-12-21
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1108229484

'Middle' Platonism has some claim to be the single most influential philosophical movement of the last two thousand years, as the common background to 'Neoplatonism' and the early development of Christian theology. This book breaks with the tradition of considering it primarily in terms of its sources, instead putting its contemporary philosophical engagements front and centre to reconstruct its philosophical motivations and activity across the full range of its interests. The volume explores the ideas at the heart of Platonist philosophy in this period and includes a comprehensive selection of primary sources, a significant number of which appear in English translation for the first time, along with dedicated guides to the questions that have been, and might be, asked about the movement. The result is a tool intended to help bring the study of Middle Platonism into mainstream discussions of ancient philosophy.

An Anthology of the Cambridge Platonists

An Anthology of the Cambridge Platonists
Author: Douglas Hedley
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 480
Release: 2023-09-08
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1000851710

Notwithstanding their neglect in many histories of ideas in the West, the Cambridge Platonists constitute the most significant and influential group of thinkers in the Platonic tradition between the Florentine Renaissance and the Romantic Age. This anthology offers readers a unique, thematically structured compendium of their key texts, along with an extensive introduction and a detailed account of their legacy. The volume draws upon a resurgence of interest in thinkers such as Benjamin Whichcote, 1609–1683; Ralph Cudworth, 1618–1688; Henry More, 1614–1687; John Smith, 1618–1652, and Anne Conway 1631–1679, and includes hitherto neglected extracts and some works of less familiar authors within the group, like George Rust 1627?–1670; Joseph Glanvill, 1636–1680, and John Norris 1657–1712. It also highlights the Cambridge Platonists’ important role in the history of philosophy and theology, influencing luminaries such as Shaftesbury, Berkeley, Leibniz, Joseph de Maistre, S.T. Coleridge, and W.R. Emerson. An Anthology of the Cambridge Platonists is an indispensable guide to the serious study of a pivotal group of Western metaphysicians and is of great value for both students and scholars of philosophy, literature, history, and theology. Key Features The only systematic anthology to the Cambridge Platonists available, facilitating quick comprehension of key themes and ideas Uses new translations of the Latin works, vastly improving upon faulty and misleading earlier translations Offers a wide range of new perspective on the Cambridge Platonists, showing the extent of their influence in early modern philosophy and beyond.

The Cambridge Platonists

The Cambridge Platonists
Author: Tod E. Jones
Publisher: University Press of America
Total Pages: 180
Release: 2005
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9780761828747

The Cambridge Platonists is written with students and novice theologians in mind. It provides context as well as description, while outlining the most representative ideas of the school with clarity and brevity. This introduction will meet the needs of many readers, but for those beginning a study of the works of the Cambridge Platonists, the Eight Letters of Dr. Antony Tuckney and Dr. Benjamin Whichcote not only provide a logical starting point, in that they present the most characteristic ideas of Whichcote--arguably, the Cambridge Platonists' founding member--but also help to clarify what sets this school of religious thought apart from contemporary Puritan theology, as represented by Tuckney. This is the first complete edition of the Eight Letters since their original publication in 1753, now rendered accessible to readers without knowledge of classical languages.