Catharine Cockburn on Unthinking Immaterial Substance: Souls, Space, and Related Matters

Thomas, Emily

Abstract

The early modern Catharine Cockburn wrote on a wide range of philosophical issues and recent years have seen an increasing interest in her work. This paper explores her thesis that immaterial substance need not think. Drawing on existing scholarship, I explore the origin of this thesis in Cockburn and show how she applies it in a novel way to space. This thesis provides a particularly useful entry point into Cockburn's philosophy, as it emphasises the importance of her metaphysics and connects with many of her further philosophical views. This paper shows that it is rewarding to consider Cockburn's philosophical views as a holistic system.

Citation

Thomas, E. (2015). Catharine Cockburn on Unthinking Immaterial Substance: Souls, Space, and Related Matters. Philosophy Compass, 10(4), 255-263. https://doi.org/10.1111/phc3.12210

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Nov 21, 2014
• Online Publication Date: Apr 6, 2015
• Publication Date: Apr 6, 2015
• Deposit Date: Oct 21, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 6, 2017
• Journal: Philosophy Compass
• Electronic ISSN: 1747-9991
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 10
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 255-263
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/phc3.12210
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1402486