Ancient Wisdom in the Age of the New Science: Histories of Philosophy in England, c. 1640–1700 (Ideas in Context, Series Number 113)

Seventeenth-century England Has Long Been Heralded As The Birthplace Of A So-called 'new' Philosophy. Yet What Contemporaries Might Have Understood By 'old' Philosophy Has Been Little Appreciated. In This Book Dmitri Levitin Examines English Attitudes To Ancient Philosophy In Unprecedented Depth, Demonstrating The Centrality Of Engagement With The History Of Philosophy To Almost All Educated Persons, Whether Scholars, Clerics, Or Philosophers Themselves, And Aligning English Intellectual Culture Closely To That Of Continental Europe. Drawing On A Vast Array Of Sources, Levitin Challenges The Assumption That Interest In Ancient Ideas Was Limited To Out-of-date 'ancients' Or Was In Some Sense 'pre-enlightened'; Indeed, Much Of The Intellectual Justification For The New Philosophy Came From Re-writing Its History. At The Same Time, The Deep Investment Of English Scholars In Pioneering Forms Of Late Humanist Erudition Led Them To Develop Some Of The Most Innovative Narratives Of Ancient Philosophy In Early Modern Europe.-- Introduction: Histories Of Philosohpy Between Renaissance And Englithenment -- Ancient Wisdom I-the Wisdom Of The East: Zoroaster, Astronomy, And The Chaldeans, From Thomas Stanley To Thomas Hyde -- Ancient Wisdom Ii-moses The Egyptian? -- Histories Of Natural Philosophy I-histories Of Method -- Historie Of Natural Philosophy Ii-histories Of Doctrine: Matter, Theory, And Animating Principles -- Philosophy In The Early Church -- Conclusions. Dmitri Levitin. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Seventeenth-century England has long been heralded as the birthplace of a so-called 'new' philosophy. Yet what contemporaries might have understood by 'old' philosophy has been little appreciated. In this book Dmitri Levitin examines English attitudes to ancient philosophy in unprecedented depth, demonstrating the centrality of engagement with the history of philosophy to almost all educated persons, whether scholars, clerics, or philosophers themselves, and aligning English intellectual culture closely to that of continental Europe. Drawing on a vast array of sources, Levitin challenges the assumption that interest in ancient ideas was limited to out-of-date 'ancients' or was in some sense 'pre-enlightened'; indeed, much of the intellectual justification for the new philosophy came from re-writing its history. At the same time, the deep investment of English scholars in pioneering forms of late humanist erudition led them to develop some of the most innovative narratives of ancient philosophy in early modern Europe.-- Provided by Publisher Drawing on hundreds of sources, this innovative book combines the history of scholarship, science, philosophy and religion to demonstrate how changing ideas about the history of ancient philosophy were central to intellectual change in seventeenth-century England, a period of immense significance for the history of European science and religion.