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More, Henry

Born: 12 October 1614, Grantham, Lincolnshire

Died: 1 September 1687, Cambridge

  • Living reference work entry
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Encyclopedia of Renaissance Philosophy

Abstract

Henry More was an expounder of Cambridge Platonism, as he largely relied on a Platonic-inspired standpoint in pursuing his aims: the demonstration of the immortality of soul, the critique of atheism and religious enthusiasm. He maintains that soul emanates from God (being therefore not created and pre-existing body) and argues for the existence of a spirit of nature as means to explain natural phenomena, which cannot be accounted for only in mechanical terms. Moreover, he argues for the extended nature of God and spirits, as only in this way they can act on the world. Accordingly, More rejects Descartes’s theory of immaterial substance, but relies on his ontological argument provide a demonstration of the existence of God. His critique to enthusiasm (especially that one characterizing Neoplatonic mysticism) is medical, as he distinguishes between a rational, religious inspiration, and a melancholic one.

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References

Primary Literature

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Antichistica, Lingue, Educazione e Filosofia (A.L.E.F.), Università degli Studi di Parma, Parma, Italy

    Andrea Strazzoni

  2. Gotha Research Centre, University and Research Library, Erfurt/Gotha, Germany

    Andrea Strazzoni

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  1. Andrea Strazzoni
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Correspondence to Andrea Strazzoni .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Verona, Mantova, Italy

    Marco Sgarbi

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Strazzoni, A. (2016). More, Henry. In: Sgarbi, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Renaissance Philosophy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02848-4_526-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02848-4_526-1

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