Cudworth as a Critic of Spinoza

Abstract

In the _True Intellectual System_, Cudworth attacks types of atheist position—atomic atheism, hylozoic atheism, etc. He generally uses ancient examples to illustrate those types, but also criticizes some of his contemporaries. We can identify direct criticisms of contemporaries by finding quotations, paraphrases, and accounts of their views in the text. My primary question in this paper is, 'how much of the _True Intellectual System_ is directly about or aimed at Spinoza?' My ultimate answer, contrary to some prominent voices in the existing literature, is 'not very much at all'.

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Stewart Duncan
University at Buffalo

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References found in this work

Spinoza's 'Ethics': An Introduction.Steven M. Nadler - 2006 - New York: Cambridge University Press.
Materialism from Hobbes to Locke.Stewart Duncan - 2021 - Oxford University Press.
Spinoza and the Early English Deists.Rosalie L. Colie - 1959 - Journal of the History of Ideas 20 (1/4):23.

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