The Metaphysics of Henry More (International Archives of the History of Ideas Archives internationales d'histoire des idées (207))

The book surveys the key metaphysical contributions of the Cambridge Platonist, Henry More (1614–1687). It deals with such interwoven topics as: the natures of body and spirit, and the question of whether or not there is a sharp ontological division between them; the nature of spatial extension in relation to each; the composition and governance of the physical world, including More’s theories of Hyle, atoms, vacuum, and the Spirit of Nature; and the life of the human soul, including its pre-existence. It approaches these topics and the systematic connections between them both historically and analytically, and seeks to do justice to the ways in which More’s system developed and changed—sometimes quite dramatically—over the course of his long career. It also explores More's intellectual relations with both his own inspirations (Plotinus, Origen, Ficino, Descartes, etc.) and with those who responded, whether positively or negatively, to his work (Leibniz, Locke, Boyle, Newton, etc.). From his correspondence with Descartes in the 1640s to his discussions with Isaac Newton in the 1680s, Henry More (1614-1687) was a central figure in seventeenth-century philosophy. Notwithstanding his occasional portrayal as a rather eccentric anachronism, excessively wedded to the Neoplatonism of the past, the fact is that he was involved in some of the most cutting-edge debates of the day, and engaged with most of the giants of that great age of geniuses. The present work takes More seriously as a subtle and systematic early-modern metaphysician. It explores his ideas in relation to those of his contemporaries, both friends and foes, while also taking care not to neglect his Neoplatonic heritage; but it also reveals just how original a thinker he was in his own right. Topics include More's evolving conception of Hyle (or first matter); his account of the physical world, a world of atoms without void; his theory of immaterial extension, and the divine real space that underlay this world; his attitude to mechanical explanations in physics, and his preferred theory of the Spirit of Nature; his developing attitude to the notion of living matter; and his views on the life of the human soul, before as well as after its union with the human body "From his correspondence with Descartes in the 1640s to his discussions with Isaac Newton in the 1680s, Henry More (1614-1687) was a central figure in seventeenth-century philosophy. Nothwithstanding his occasional portrayal as a rather eccentric anachronism, excessively wedded to the Neoplatonism of the past, the fact is that he was involved in some of the most cutting-edge debates of the day, and engaged with most of the giants of that great age of geniuses. The present work takes More seriously as a subtle and systematic early-modern metaphysician. It explores his ideas in relation to those of his contemporaries, both friends and foes, while also taking care not to neglect his Neoplatonic heritage; but it also reveals just how original a thinker he was in his own right."--Back cover. Front Matter....Pages i-vii Introduction....Pages 1-34 Atoms and Void....Pages 35-73 Hyle, or First Matter....Pages 75-101 Real Space....Pages 103-139 Spiritual Presence....Pages 141-184 Spiritual Extension....Pages 185-236 Living Matter....Pages 237-278 Mechanism and Its Limits....Pages 279-311 The Spirit of Nature....Pages 313-348 The Life of the Soul....Pages 349-381 Editions Cited....Pages 383-401 Back Matter....Pages 403-412