Margaret Cavendish Essential Writings
epistemology, metaphysics, and political philosophy. She argued that human beings and all other members of the created universe are purely material creatures, and she held that there are many other ways in which creatures are alike as well: for example, human beings, non-human animals, spiders,
cells, and all other beings exhibit skill, wisdom, and activity, and so the universe of matter is not the largely dead and unimpressive region that most of her contemporaries thought it to be. Creatures instead are sophisticated and display a wide spectrum of intelligent activity, ranging from the
highly conscious mentality that Descartes posited to be part and parcel of human thought, to embodied forms of cognition that is more common in non-human creatures but that guide a significant portion of human behavior as well. Cavendish then used her fictional work to further illustrate her views
and arguments, and also to craft alternative fictional worlds in which the climate for women was very different than on Seventeenth-Century earth - a climate in which women could be taken seriously in the role of philosopher, writer, scientist, military general, and other roles. This is the first volume to provide a cross-section of Cavendish's writings, views and arguments, along with introductory material. It excerpts the key portions of all her texts including annotated notes highlighting the interconnections between them. Including a general introduction by Cunning,
the book will allow students to work toward a systematic picture of Cavendish's metaphysics, epistemology, and political philosophy (and including some of her non-philosophical work as well) and to see her in dialogue with philosophers who are part of the traditional canon.
| Publisher Name | Oxford University Press USA |
|---|---|
| Author Name | Hagendorf, Col |
| Format | Audio |
| Bisac Subject Major | PHI |
| Language | NG |
| Isbn 10 | 0190664053 |
| Isbn 13 | 9780190664053 |
| Target Age Group | min:NA, max:NA |
| Series | 000815709 |
| Dimensions | 00.93" H x 00.06" L x 10.00" W |
| Page Count | 272 |
David Cunning is Professor of Philosophy and Collegiate Scholar at the University of Iowa, where he is also Chair of the Philosophy Department. His primary research and teaching interests are in history of early modern philosophy, with a focus on the mind-body problem, the nature of mind, embodied
intelligence, free will, the relative autonomy and interdependence of creatures, and gender. He is also interested in the rhetorical issue of how philosophers write with an eye to the audience that is receiving them.
