Henry More

Henry More
Henry More.

Henry More (October 12, 1614 – September 1, 1687) was an English philosopher of the Cambridge Platonist school.

Contents

Biography

Henry was born at Grantham and was schooled at The King's School, Grantham and at Eton College. Both his parents were Calvinists but he himself "could never swallow that hard doctrine." In 1631 he entered Christ's College, Cambridge, at about the time John Milton was leaving it. He took his BA in 1635, his MA in 1639, and immediately afterwards became a fellow of his college, turning down all other positions that were offered.[1] He would not accept the mastership of his college, to which, it is understood, he would have been preferred in 1654, when Ralph Cudworth was appointed. In 1675, he finally accepted a prebend in Gloucester Cathedral, but only to resign it in favour of his friend Dr. Edward Fowler, afterwards bishop of Gloucester.

More taught many notable pupils, including Anne Finch, sister of Heneage Finch, subsequently Earl of Nottingham. She later became Lady Conway, and at her country seat at Ragley in Warwickshire, More would spend "a considerable part of his time." She and her husband both appreciated him, and amidst the woods of this retreat he wrote several of his books. The spiritual enthusiasm of Lady Conway was a considerable factor in some of More's speculations, even though she at length joined the Quakers. She became the friend not only of More and William Penn, but of Franciscus Mercurius van Helmont (1614–1699) and Valentine Greatrakes, mystical thaumaturgists of the 17th century. Ragley became a centre of devotion and spiritualism.

Views

More (1712) rejected Cartesian dualism on the following grounds: "It would be easier for me to attribute matter and extension to the soul, than to attribute to an immaterial thing the capacity to move and be moved by the body.' His difficulties with Cartesian Dualism arose, not from an inability to understand how material and immaterial substances could interact, but from an unwillingness to accept any unextended entity as any kind of real entity. More continues "...it is plain that if a thing be at all it must be extended." So for More 'spirit' too must be extended. This led him to the idea of a 'fourth dimension" in which the spirit is extended, to which he gave the curious name of "essential spissitude". For further comments on this idea see Burtt (1932) and Smythies (1994). References. Burtt, E.A. The Metaphysical Foundations of Science. London. Routledge & Kegan Paul. 1932 More, H. The Immortality of the Soul. London (4th edition). 1712. Smythies, J. The Walls of Plato's Cave. Aldershot, Avebury. 1994

Works

He was a prolific writer of verse and prose. The Divine Dialogues (1688), a treatise which condenses his general view of philosophy and religion. Like many others he began as a poet and ended as a prose writer. His first work, published in 1642, but written two years earlier, was entitled Psychodoia Platonica: or, a Platonicall Song of the Soul, consisting of foure severall Poems. This was followed in 1647 by his full collection of Philosophicall Poems, which includes The Song of the Soul,' much enlarged, and is dedicated ' to his dear father.' A second edition was published in the same year, and it was included by A. B. Grosart in his Chertsey Worthies Library (1878).[2]

His prose works are :

  • Observations upon Anthroposophia Theomagica and Anima Magica Abscondita by Alazonomastix Philalethes, 1650 ; in answer to Thomas Vaughan, who replied in The Man-mouse taken in a Trape.
  • The Second Lash of Alazonomastix, a rejoinder to Vaughan, 1651.
  • An Antidote against Atheism, or an Appeal to the Naturall Faculties of the Minde of Man, whether there be not a God, 1653 : 2nd edit. 'corrected and enlarged: With an Appendix thereunto annexed,' 1655.
  • Conjectura Cabbalistica ... or a Conjectural Essay of Interpreting the Minde of Moses, according to a Threefold Cabbala: viz. Literal, Philosophical, Mystical, or Divinely Moral, 1653; dedicated to Ralph Cudworth.
  • Enthusiasmus Triumphatus, or a Discourse of the Nature, Causes, Kinds, and Cure of Enthusiasme; written by Philophilus Parrasiastes, and prefixed to Alazonomastix his Observations and Reply, &c., 1656.
  • The Immortality of the Soul, so farre forth as it is demonstrable from the Knowledge of Nature and the Light of Reason, 1659; dedicated to Viscount Conway.
  • An Explanation of the Grand Mystery of Godliness; or a True and Faithful Representation of the Everlasting Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, 1660.
  • A Modest Enquiry into the Mystery of Iniquity, and an Apologie, &c., 1664.
  • Enchiridion Ethicum, praecipua Moralis Philosophiae Rudimenta complectens, illustrata ut plurimum Veterum Monumentis, et ad Probitatem Vitae perpetuo accommodate, 1667, 1668, 1669, 1695, 1696, and 1711.
  • Divine Dialogues, containing sundry Disquisitions and Instructions concerning the Attributes of God and His Providence in the World, 1668. The most authentic edition appeared in 1713.
  • An Exposition of the Seven Epistles to the Seven Churches; Together with a Brief Discourse of Idolatry, with application to the Church of Rome. The title of the latter in the volume itself is An Antidote against Idolatry, and it elicited from More in reply to attacks A brief Reply to a late Answer to Dr. Henry More his antidote against Idolatry, 1672, and An Appendix to the late Antidote against Idolatry, 1673.
  • Enchiridion Metaphysicum: sive, de rebus in- corporeis succincta et luculenta dissertati; pars prima, 1671, an attack on Cartesian philosophy, which he had in earlier life admired.
  • Remarks upon two late ingenious Discourses [by Matthew Hale]; the one, an Essay, touching the Gravitation and non-Gravitation of Fluid Bodies; the other, touching the Torricellian Experiment, so far forth as they may concern any passages in his "Enchiridion Metaphysicum," 1676.
  • Apocalypsis Apocalypseos; or the Revelation of St. John the Divine unveiled: an exposition from chapter to chapter and from verse to verse of the whole Book of the Apocalypse, 1680.
  • A Plain and continued Exposition of the several Prophecies or Divine Visions of the Prophet Daniel, which have or may concern the People of God, whether Jew or Christian, &c., 1681.
  • A Brief Discourse of the Real Presence of the Body and Blood of Christ in the Celebration of the Holy Eucharist; wherein the Witty Artifices of the Bishop of Meaux [Bossuet] and of Monsieur Maimbourg are obviated, whereby they would draw in the Protestants to imbrace the doctrine of Transubstantiation, 1681.[2]

More is also believed to have written Philosophiae Teutonicae Censura, 1670, a criticism of the theosophy of Jacob Boehme; and to have edited Joseph Glanvill's Saducismus Triumphatus, 1681. He certainly contributed largely to the volume, and also wrote many of the annotations to Glanvill's Lux Orientalis,' 1682. More agreed with Glanvill on belief in witchcraft and apparitions. Several letters from More to John Worthington are printed in Worthington's Diary, and some Letters Philosophical and Moral between John Norris and Henry More are added to Norris's Theory and Regulation of Love, 1688. A Collection of several Philosophical Writings of Dr. Henry More includes his Antidote against Atheism, with the Appendix, Enthusiasmus Triumphatus, Letters to Des Cartes, &c., Immortality of the Soul, and Conjectura Cabbalistica. A fourth edition, 'corrected and much enlarged,' was put forth in 1712, and was 'enriched with all the Scholia or Notes that he added afterwards in his Latin edition of these works.'[2]

More issued complete editions of his works, his Opera theologica in 1675, and his Opera philosophica in 1678. Between 1672 and 1675 More was principally engaged in translating his English works into Latin. In 1675 appeared Henrici Mori Cantabrigiensis Opera Theologica, Anglice quidem primitius scripta, mine vero per autorem Latine reddita. Hisce novus praefixus est De Synchronismis Apocalypticis Tractatulus. This was followed in 1679 by a larger work in two volumes, Henrici Mori Cantabrigiensis Opera Omnia, tum quae Latine tum quae Anglice scripta sunt; nunc vero Latinitate donata instigatu et impensis generosissimi juvenis Johannis Cockshutt nobilis Angli. Mr. Cockshutt of the Inner Temple had left a legacy of £300 to More to have three of his principal pieces translated into Latin, and More complied with the terms of the legacy by translating into Latin many more of his English works. In 1692 were published Discourses on Several Texts of Scripture, with a preface signed 'John Worthington; ' and in 1694 Letters on Several Subjects, published by Edmund Elys. Abridgments of and extracts from the works of More were numerous; and in 1708 a volume was published for charitable libraries, The Theological Works of the most Pious and Learned Henry More. The work is in English, but 'according to the author's Improvements in his Latin edition.'[2]

The chief authorities for his life are Richard Ward's Life (1710); the prefatio generalissima prefixed to his Opera omnia (1679); and also a general account of the manner and scope of his writings in an Apology published in 1664. The collection of his Philosophical Poems (1647), in which he has "compared his chief speculations and experiences," should also be consulted. An elaborate analysis of his life and works is given in John Tulloch's Rational Theology, vol. ii. (1874); see also R Zimmermann, Henry More und die vierte Dimension des Raums (Vienna, 1881); Henry More: Tercentenary Studies, ed. by Sarah Hutton (Dordrecht, 1990).

Influence

A quotation from More is used as the epigraph of Ralph Waldo Emerson's "The Over-soul."

Notes

  1. ^ More, Henry in Venn, J. & J. A., Alumni Cantabrigienses, Cambridge University Press, 10 vols, 1922–1958.
  2. ^ a b c d Dictionary of National Biography; s:More, Henry (1614-1687) (DNB00).

References

  • Aharon Lichtenstein, Henry More: The Rational Theology of a Cambridge Platonist Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1962.
Attribution

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Henry More — (latinisiert: Henricus Morus, * Oktober 1614 in Grantham, Lincolnshire; † 1. September 1687 in Cambridge) war ein englischer Philosoph und Dichter. Er war Fellow am angesehenen …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Henry More — Henry More. Henry More (12 de octubre de 1614–1 de septiembre de 1687) fue un filósofo inglés de la escuela de Cambridge. Biografía Henry nació en Grantham. Sus padres eran calvinistas, pero él “nunca pudo tragar esa dura doctr …   Wikipedia Español

  • Henry More —     Henry More     † Catholic Encyclopedia ► Henry More     Great grandson of the martyred English chancellor; b., 1586; d. at Watten in 1661. Having studied at St. Omer and Valladolid, he entered the Society of Jesus, and after his profession,… …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Henry More — Pour les articles homonymes, voir More. Henry More. Henry More était un philosophe anglais de l école des Platoniciens de Cambridge. Il est né le 12 octobre 1614 à Grantham, Lincolnshire, et décédé le 1er septembre 1687 à Cambridge …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Henry More Smith — (fl. 1835.) (also known as Henry Frederick Moon, Henry Frederick More Smith and William Newman) was a confidence man, master puppeteer, hypnotist, seer, liar, and above all else a superlative escape artist who lived for a while in New Brunswick,… …   Wikipedia

  • Henry More (Jesuit) — Father Henry More (1586 1661) was an English Jesuit provincial and church historian.BiographyHe was the great grandson of the martyred English chancellor Thomas More.Henry was born in 1586; died at Watten in 1661. Having studied at St. Omer and… …   Wikipedia

  • Henry VIII — • Lengthy article which concentrates on Henry s break with the Church of Rome Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006. Henry VIII     Henry VIII      …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • MORE (H.) — MORE HENRY (1614 1687) Ce «platonicien de Cambridge» est un penseur qui intéresse à la fois l’historien des sciences religieuses et ceux de la théosophie, de la philosophie et même de la littérature anglaise. Henry More fut surtout un théosophe… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Henry Moore (disambiguation) — Henry Moore (1898 ndash;1986) was a British sculptor and artist.Henry Moore may also be: * Sir Henry Moore, 1st Baronet (1713 ndash;1769), British colonial Governor of New York, Jamaica, etc * Henry Moore (biographer) (1751 ndash;1844), English… …   Wikipedia

  • Henry Smith — may be:*Henry A. Smith (1830 ndash;1915), American physician and poet, early settler of Seattle *Colonel Sir Henry Abel Smith (1900 ndash;1993), British Army officer and Governor of Queensland. *Sir Henry Babington Smith (1863 ndash;1923),… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”