Cavendish, Margaret (1623–1673)
Gwendolyn Marshall, Susanne Sreedhar
June 6, 2023 DOI: 10.4324/9781003406525-6 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
|---|---|
| Key points | The text presents Cavendish as arguing for panpsychism, the view that all things in nature possess minds or mental properties, and as holding that all things in nature are composed of self-moving, animate matter. It reports that she rejected Descartes' distinction between mind and body and the immateriality of mind, and rejected Hobbes' position, arguing instead that even bodies such as tables, chairs, and organs like the heart or liver know and carry out their own distinctive motions. |
Abstract
Margaret Lucas Cavendish, the Duchess of Newcastle, was a philosopher, poet, playwright, and essayist. Her philosophical writings were mostly concerned with issues of natural philosophy, but also extended to social and political concerns. Like Hobbes and Descartes, she rejected what she took to be the mysterious explanations of previous philosophers. Against Descartes, she rejected the notion that the mind and body are distinct things and rejected the idea that the mind is immaterial. Against Hobbes, on the other hand, she argued that all things in nature were composed of self-moving, animate matter. She argued for panpsychism, the view that all things in nature possess minds or mental properties; indeed, she even argued that all bodies, including tables and chairs, as well as parts of the bodies of organisms, such as the human heart or liver, know their own distinctive motions and are thereby able to carry it out.