Henry More, 1614-1687: A Biography of the Cambridge Platonist (International Archives of the History of Ideas Archives internationales d'histoire des ides, 185)

Henry More (1614-1687), the Cambridge Platonist, is often presented as an elusive and contradictory figure. An early apologist for the new natural philosophy and its rational support for Christian doctrine, More also defended the existence of witchcraft and wrote extensively on the nature of the soul and the world of spirits. A vigorous and prolific controversialist against many varieties of contemporary `atheism' and `enthusiasm', More was himself a spiritual perfectionist and illuminist, believing that the goal of the religious life was a conscious union with God. Until now, most biographies of More have ignored these, his own, preoccupations, and have made of him a rather eccentric but important illustrative figure in one of several larger narratives dominated by canonical figures like Descartes, Boyle, Spinoza or Newton. This is the first modern biography to place his own 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. In addition, it contains an annotated handlist of his extant correspondence. Front Matter....Pages I-XXVI Early Life and Education....Pages 1-15 Psychozoia: The Journey of the Soul....Pages 17-27 Metaphysics, Psychology and Natural Philosophy in the Psychodia Platonica ....Pages 29-44 Enthusiasm and the Light Within....Pages 45-61 Plato Democritans: The Ancient Cabbala Revived....Pages 63-77 The Cupri-Cosmits and the Latitude-Men....Pages 79-92 The Apology of Dr Henry More....Pages 93-109 The Preexistence of the Soul....Pages 111-125 A Natural History of the World of Spirits....Pages 127-142 The Limits of Mechanism and the Experimental Philosophy of the Royal Society....Pages 143-166 Hylozoism and the Nature of Material Substance....Pages 167-182 The Kabbalah and the Quakers: Anne Conway, van Helmont, and Knorr von Rosenroth....Pages 183-198 Conclusion....Pages 199-204 Back Matter....Pages 205-278

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.