Keywords
Francis Glisson
Henry More
Margaret Cavendish
Cambridge Platonism
biology
scientific revolution
vitalism
How to Cite
Abstract
Vitalistic Approaches to Life in Early Modern England
Abstract: Vitalism has been given different definitions and diverse figures have been labelled as vitalists throughout the history of ideas. Concentrating on the seventeenth century, we find that scholars identify as vitalists authors who endorse notions that are in diametrical opposition with each other. I briefly present the ideas of dualist vitalists (Henry More, Ralph Cudworth and Nehemiah Grew) and monist vitalists (Francis Glisson, Margaret Cavendish and Anne Conway) and the philosophical and theological considerations informing their thought. In all these varied forms of vitalism the identifiable common motives are the essential irreducibility of life (regarded as a property of either an immaterial spirit or matter itself) and the universality of life (extending well beyond the "organic" realm of nature, incorporating the "inorganic").
Keywords: Anne Conway; Francis Glisson; Henry More; Margaret Cavendish; Cambridge Platonism; biology; scientific revolution; vitalism
Vitalistické přístupy k životu v raně novověké Anglii
Abstrakt: V dějinách idejí se vitalismu dostalo různých definic a různé postavy byly označeny za vitalisty. Když se soustředíme na 17. století, zjistíme, že badatelé identifikovali jako vitalisty autory, kteří zastávají názory, jež jsou v diametrálním pro-tikladu. Stručně představím názory dualistických vitalistů (Henry More, Ralph Cudworth a Nehemiah Grew) a monistických vitalistů (Francis Glisson, Margaret Cavendishová, Anne Conwayová), a filosofické a teologické uvažování, které formovalo jejich myšelní. Ve všech těchto různých podobách vitalismu se nacházejí identifikovatelné společné motivy: bytostná neredukovatelnost života (považovaná za vlastnost buď nehmotného ducha nebo samotného hmoty) a univerzalita života (sahající daleko za „organickou" oblast přírody až „anorganické").
Klíčová slova: Anne Conway; Francis Glisson; Henry More; Margaret Cavendish; cambridgeský platonismus; biologie; vědecká revoluce; vitalismus
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