Gods and giants: Cudworth’s platonic metaphysics and his ancient theology
Accepted version
Peer-reviewed
Repository URI
Repository DOI
Change log
Authors
Hedley, Douglas https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3886-4114
Abstract
The Cambridge Platonists are modern thinkers and the context of seventeenth-century Cambridge science is an inalienable and decisive part of their thought. Cudworth’s interest in ancient theology, however, seems to conflict with the progressive aspect of his philosophy. The problem of the nature, however, of this ‘Platonism’ is unavoidable. Even in his complex and recondite ancient theology Cudworth is motivated by philosophical considerations, and his legacy among philosophers in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries should not be overlooked. In particular we will draw on the scholarship of the German Egyptologist Jan Assmann in order to reassess the significance of Cudworth’s theory of religion for later philosophical developments.
Description
Keywords
5005 Theology, 50 Philosophy and Religious Studies, 5002 History and Philosophy Of Specific Fields
Journal Title
British Journal for the History of Philosophy
Conference Name
Journal ISSN
0960-8788
1469-3526
1469-3526
Volume Title
25
Publisher
Informa UK Limited