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Durham E-Theses Durham E-Theses Thomas Traherne in Tradition: An Analysis of Platonist Cognition through the Writings of Plotinus, Ficino, Traherne, and Hobbes GUERTIN, FRANK,JOHN How to cite: GUERTIN, FRANK,JOHN (2017) Thomas Traherne in Tradition: An Analysis of Platonist Cognition through the Writings of Plotinus, Ficino, Traherne, and Hobbes , Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/12260/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 Abstract Since the initial discovery of Traherne at the turn of the twentieth century, studies of his work have often neglected theological and philosophical analyses. Early caricatures of Traherne as a proto‐Romantic have also colored his reception as a serious theologian. By placing the critical emphasis on the literary dynamics within the corpus, the intellectual history influencing Traherne and the construction of his ideas has subsequently been lightly addressed in scholarship over the years. This dissertation presents Traherne as a sophisticated thinker who draws on the resources of Christian Platonism in an effort to create a philosophy for life. The argument puts him in dialogue with three other writers he knew well: Plotinus, Marsilio Ficino, and Thomas Hobbes. Plotinus and Ficino help locate the Platonist philosophical stream Traherne participates in. Thomas Hobbes helps illuminate the nascent empiricism indicative of the early modern period, a mechanical philosophy Traherne critiques in various ways. With all four voices engaged, the topics of evil, soul, sense, and memory are investigated in order to reveal the textures of a Trahernian anthropology. A portrait then emerges where Traherne opens up, for the reader, possibilities of transformation arising from ordinary experience. The argument ultimately provides a re‐interpretation of innocence in view of Traherne’s Christian Platonism, showing how the concept of innocence works as a Platonic call to transformation and originary wholeness. Thomas Traherne in Tradition: An Analysis of Platonist Cognition through the Writings of Plotinus, Ficino, Traherne, and Hobbes Frank J. Guertin A thesis submitted for the degree of PhD at the Department of Theology and Religion of Durham University 2017 Contents Chapter 1 – Locating Trahernian Innocence Theologically ..................................................... 1 1.1 Method .......................................................................................................................... 3 1.2.1 A Brief Review of Traherne’s Critical Reception ......................................................... 8 1.2.2 The Influence of Comparative Studies on Mysticism for Traherne’s Reception ...... 10 1.2.3 Broader Scholarship Addressing Traherne’s Mysticism ........................................... 11 1.3.1 Three Interpretative Stances for Traherne .............................................................. 14 1.3.2 Scholarship Engaging the Christian Mystical Tradition ............................................ 16 1.4.1 The Current State of Traherne Studies ..................................................................... 27 1.4.2 The Cambridge Platonist Connection ....................................................................... 30 1.4.3 Traherne in Tradition ................................................................................................ 32 Chapter 2 – The Notion of Evil .............................................................................................. 36 2.1.1 Manichaean .............................................................................................................. 38 2.1.2 Platonist .................................................................................................................... 39 2.1.3 Christian Platonist .................................................................................................... 41 2.2.1 Evil in Plotinus .......................................................................................................... 43 2.2.2 Desire ........................................................................................................................ 45 2.2.3 The Influence of Matter ........................................................................................... 47 2.2.4 Summary of Plotinus on Evil ..................................................................................... 48 2.3.1 Evil in Ficino .............................................................................................................. 49 2.3.2 The Importance of Good .......................................................................................... 53 2.3.3 Freedom ................................................................................................................... 54 2.3.4 Summary of Ficino on Evil ........................................................................................ 55 2.4.1 Love as Foundation In Traherne ............................................................................... 55 2.4.2 The Role of Hatred ................................................................................................... 57 2.4.3 Matter ...................................................................................................................... 59 2.4.4 Atomist Theory ......................................................................................................... 61 2.4.5 Freedom ................................................................................................................... 62 2.4.6 Desire ........................................................................................................................ 63 2.4.7 Christology in Traherne ............................................................................................ 65 2.4.8 Summary of Traherne and Evil ................................................................................. 71 2.5.1 Evil and Pain in Hobbes ............................................................................................ 72 2.5.2 Innatism .................................................................................................................... 74 2.5.3 Matter ...................................................................................................................... 76 2.5.4 Freedom ................................................................................................................... 77 2.5.5 Desire ........................................................................................................................ 79 2.5.6 Summary of Hobbes and Evil .................................................................................... 80 Chapter 3 – The Concept of Soul ........................................................................................... 83 3.1.1 Logos as Organizing Principle in Plotinus ................................................................. 85 3.1.2 The Rational Principle as Logos in Ficino .................................................................. 87 3.1.3 Traherne’s Logos ...................................................................................................... 88 3.1.4 Logos in Hobbes ....................................................................................................... 92 3.2.1 Cognition and Transformation in Plotinus ............................................................... 95 3.2.2 Cognition and Transformation in Traherne .............................................................. 98 3.2.3 Hobbes’s Version of the Soul’s Eye ........................................................................ 104 3.3.1 Plotinus and Embodiment ...................................................................................... 108 3.3.2.1 Ficino and the Orthodox Soul .............................................................................. 111 3.3.2.2 The Relationship Between Body and Soul in Ficino ............................................ 113 3.3.3.1 Embodiment in Traherne .................................................................................... 116 3.3.3.2 Traherne’s Christianization of the Platonist Soul ................................................ 117 3.4.1 Ficino and the Irrational Soul ................................................................................. 121 3.4.2 Traherne and Irrationality ...................................................................................... 123 3.4.3 Hobbes and Irrational Desires ................................................................................ 126 3.5 Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 128 Chapter 4 – The Role of the Senses ....................................................................................
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