Abstract
Daniel Scargill and Samuel Parker have both been regarded as isolated
and eccentric
disciples of Thomas Hobbes. However, a detailed examination of their views
reveals a more
complicated relationship with the notorious philosopher. Far from being
simple ‘Hobbists’, Scargill
and Parker developed ideas close to those of ‘latitudinarian’
clergymen. In the polarizing political
circumstances of the later 1660s, the hostile identification of their views
with the doctrines of the
Leviathan led to public discussion of latitudinarianism and its
relationship to Hobbism. In response,
writers with latitudinarian sympathies used criticism of Hobbes as a means
of reconsidering and
redefining their own position. Such criticism accepted some of Hobbes's
political conclusions, while at
the same time rejecting his controversial methodology. Discussion of Hobbism
and criticism of Hobbes
were thus important means by which Hobbes's political insights were
absorbed by Restoration political
thinkers.
Publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Cited by
30 articles.
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