Cudworth and More on Immaterial Extension: A New Text with Analysis

Abstract

Henry More famously argues that all substances are extended, body and spirit alike. In The True Intellectual System of the Universe, More’s friend and fellow Cambridge Platonist Ralph Cudworth notes More’s position but refrains from criticizing it. By contrast, in a passage from one of Cudworth’s unpublished manuscripts that has escaped scholarly attention and that is included here as an appendix, Cudworth addresses More directly, raising objections against More’s view and responding to two of More’s arguments. My aim in this paper is to provide a detailed analysis of Cudworth’s response to More in this passage.

Keywords

• ralph cudworth
• henry more
• cambridge platonism
• space
• holenmerism
• force