Philosophical Ideas in the Missionary Work of John Eliot

Abstract

The article reconstructs the philosophical ideas of the missionary John Eliot, who preached among the indigenous population of North America. The analysis is based on biographical data, which allows one to obtain information about the thinker’s education, and hence about philosophical knowledge. Since the concepts of “philosophy” and “philosopher” are present in this article in a broad sense, this in turn allows us to call the thinker a philosopher and his ideas — philosophical ideas. For this, the following definition of the concept of “philosophy” means as the quintessence of the spiritual culture of humankind, which has connections with the philosophical tradition of Western intellectual culture. On the other hand, the text provides examples of the philosophical ideas of Aristotelianism taught by John Eliot. The article analyzes the books of the thinker, the history of his activities, the main goals and objectives. All this allows us to establish the general picture of the philosophical view of John Eliot.

Keywords

• john eliot
• american philosophy
• puritan philosophy
• religion
• politics