Gods and giants: Cudworth’s platonic metaphysics and his ancient theology
نویسنده
چکیده
The Cambridge Platonists are modern thinkers and the context of seventeenthcentury Cambridge science is an inalienable and decisive part of their thought. Cudworth’s interest in ancient theology, however, seems to conflict with the progressive aspect of his philosophy. The problem of the nature, however, of this ‘Platonism’ is unavoidable. Even in his complex and recondite ancient theology Cudworth is motivated by philosophical considerations, and his legacy among philosophers in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries should not be overlooked. In particular we will draw on the scholarship of the German Egyptologist Jan Assmann in order to reassess the significance of Cudworth’s theory of religion for later philosophical developments. ARTICLE HISTORY Received 25 October 2016; Revised 28 March and 21 May 2017; Accepted 28 May 2017
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