| The Cambridge Platonists in Philosophical Context: Politics, Metaphysics and Religion Contributor(s): Rogers, G. a. (Editor), Vienne, J. -M (Editor), Zarka, Y. C. (Editor) |
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ISBN: 9048148448 ISBN-13: 9789048148448 Publisher: Springer OUR PRICE: $161.49 Product Type: Paperback Published: December 2010 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Philosophy | History & Surveys - Modern - Philosophy | Ethics & Moral Philosophy - Philosophy | Religious |
| Dewey: 141.209 |
| Series: International Archives of the History of Ideas Archives Inte |
| Physical Information: 0.58" H x 6.14" W x 9.21" (0.86 lbs) 258 pages |
| Themes: - Chronological Period - Modern |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: The Cambridge Platonists were defenders of tolerance in the political as well as the moral sphere; they held that practical j u d g e m e n t came down in the last instance to individual conscience; and they laid the foundations of our modern conceptions of conscience and liberty. But at the same time they ma intained the existence of eternal truths, and of a Good-in-itself, identical with Truth and Being, refusing to admit that freedom of conscience i m p li e d moral relativism. They were critics of dogmatism, and of the sectarian notion of "enthusiasm" as a source of illumination, on the grounds that both were disruptive of social harmony; they pleaded the cause of reason, in the hope that it could become the foundation of all human knowledge . Yet, for all that, they ma intained that a certain sort of mystical illumination lay at the heart of all true thought, and that human reason had validity only in virtue of i t s divine origin . They debated with Des cartes and took a keen interest in his mech- ism and his dualism; they brought the atomistic theories of Democritus back into repute; and they sought to provide a detailed account of the causality link ing all phenomena. |