Abstract
The present study compares Cudworth’s method of interpretation of ancient texts with that of the Late Antique Neoplatonists, like Iamblichus, Proclus and Simplicius. Not only does Cudworth, like his Neoplatonic predecessors, attach himself to a long lasting tradition of early wisdom that, at least for the Christian Platonists, went back to Moses himself, but he also uses the same exegetical methods and Platonic and Aristotelian texts. Furthermore, the treatment of these texts as sacred implies that their importance is not based on their historical date, but on the authenticity of their doctrine. In a second part, we look briefly to the implications of this singular hermeneutics on Cudworth’s epistemology.
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Notes
- 1.
- 2.
On the debate between the Cambridge Platonists and Hobbes, see Mintz (1970, 80–133).
- 3.
Cudworth draws his information about the Sophist Protagoras, not from the homonymous dialogue, but from the Theaetetus.
- 4.
It is to be noted that for Cudworth, in the tradition of Maximus the Confessor, it is through the Incarnation of God that all men and women are divinized, but each must actualize (or assume or individualize) this potential nature.
- 5.
See also Assmann (1997).
- 6.
We must not forget also the essential role that theurgic rites, which were based on the Chaldean Oracles (c. 170 ce), played in this path towards deification. See Tanaseanu-Döbler (2013).
- 7.
- 8.
- 9.
Though not a pure atomist (as Cudworth asserts here), Descartes contributed to its development through his own corpuscular theory. See also Roux (2000, 211–74).
- 10.
We should remember that Malebranche’s occasionalism is a response to Descartes’ doctrine of continuous creation.
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Mihai, A. (2019). The Neoplatonic Hermeneutics of Ralph Cudworth. In: Hedley, D., Leech, D. (eds) Revisioning Cambridge Platonism: Sources and Legacy. International Archives of the History of Ideas Archives internationales d'histoire des idées, vol 222. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22200-0_6
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