Platonism at the Origins of Modernity: Studies on Platonism and Early Modern Philosophy (International Archives of the History of Ideas Archives internationales d'histoire des idées, 196)

This collection of essays offers an overview of the range and breadth of Platonic philosophy in the early modern period. It examines philosophers of Platonic tradition, such as Cusanus, Ficino, and Cudworth. The book also addresses the impact of Platonism on major philosophers of the period, especially Descartes, Leibniz, Locke, Shaftesbury and Berkeley. Contents......Page 6 List of Contributors......Page 8 CHAPTER 1 Introduction......Page 11 CHAPTER 2 Nicholas of Cusa (1401–1464): Platonism at the Dawn of Modernity......Page 19 CHAPTER 3 At Variance: Marsilio Ficino, Platonism and Heresy......Page 40 CHAPTER 4 Going Naked into the Shrine: Herbert,Plotinus and the Constructive Metaphor......Page 54 CHAPTER 5 Comenius, Light Metaphysics and EducationalReform......Page 71 CHAPTER 6 Robert Fludd’s Kabbalistic Cosmos......Page 83 CHAPTER 7 Reconciling Theory and Fact: The Problem of ‘Other Faiths’ in Lord Herbert and the Cambridge Platonists......Page 101 CHAPTER 8 Trinity, Community and Love: Cudworth’s Platonismand the Idea of God......Page 120 CHAPTER 9 Chaos and Order in Cudworth’s Thought......Page 137 CHAPTER 10 Cudworth, Prior and Passmore on the Autonomyof Ethics......Page 152 CHAPTER 11 Substituting Aristotle: Platonic Themesin Dutch Cartesianism......Page 164 CHAPTER 12 Soul, Body and World: Plato’s Timaeus and Descartes’ Meditations......Page 181 CHAPTER 13 Locke, Plato and Platonism......Page 196 CHAPTER 14 Reflections on Locke’s Platonism......Page 209 CHAPTER 15 The Platonism at the Core of Leibniz’s Philosophy......Page 225 CHAPTER 16 Leibniz and Berkeley: Platonic Metaphysics and ‘The Mechanical Philosophy’......Page 240 CHAPTER 17 Which Platonism for Which Modernity? A Note on Shaftesbury’s Socratic Sea-Cards......Page 255 CHAPTER 18 Platonism, Aesthetics and the Sublime at the Origins of Modernity......Page 268 Index......Page 282 commentary, but by selection and accretion. Those inspired by Plato form as intrinsic a part of Platonism as Plato himself—these are the so-called Neo-P- tonists (a divisive latter-day term which implies discontinuity between Plato and 6 his later followers to the disadvantage of the latter). In the process of its long course of development, Platonism has gathered a long tradition of interpr- ers, whose contributions have been enriched by other philosophical strands—for example Stoicism, which is an important element in the philosophy of Plotinus. To this it must be added that so much of the impact of Platonism is indirect. The Platonism of many thinkers, especially in medieval times, was more often than not implicit, rather than conscious borrowing. It derived not from the Platonic corpus (most of which was unknown at that time), but indirectly through Philo, and theologians like Augustine and Origen. The combined effect of these factors is that the legacy of Platonism is rich, varied and extensive, but eludes the scope of focused enquiry. A further factor complicating assessments of Platonism in the modern era, is polarisation in the historiography itself. Historians of modern philosophy—at least in the anglophone world—readily adopt a model which counterposes ancient and modern. Drawing on a division, which the early modern philosophers themselves invoked, they employ an ‘ancient- 7 modern distinction'as a principle for organising the history of philosophy.