Chamberlain, Colin;
(2024)
The Duchess of Disunity: Margaret Cavendish on the Materiality of Mind.
Philosophers' Imprint
, 24
(1)
, Article 7. 10.3998/phimp.2503.
Preview |
Text
phimp-2503-chamberlain.pdf - Published Version Download (392kB) | Preview |
Abstract
Sometimes we love and hate the same thing at the same time. Margaret Cavendish (1623–1673) appeals to this type of passionate conflict to argue that the mind is a material thing. When our passions conflict, the mind or reason conflicts with itself. From this, Cavendish infers that the mind has parts and, therefore, is material. Cavendish says that this argument is among the best proofs of the mind’s materiality. And yet, the existing scholarship on Cavendish lacks the kind of detailed reconstruction required to evaluate the merits of this argument. In this paper, I provide just such a reconstruction. I also show that Cavendish’s argument is an effective intervention in her dispute with René Descartes and Henry More about the materiality of the mind.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | The Duchess of Disunity: Margaret Cavendish on the Materiality of Mind |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.3998/phimp.2503 |
| Publisher version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.3998/phimp.2503 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © 2024 Colin Chamberlain This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License. <www.philosophersimprint.org/024007/> |
| Keywords: | Cavendish, materialism, disunity, Achilles argument, Reverse Achilles argument, Descartes, More, cavendish, henry more, achilles argument, unity of mind |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of Arts and Humanities UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Dept of Philosophy |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10193975 |
Archive Staff Only
 |
View Item |
