The Impact of Thomas Stanley's History of Philosophy on Margaret Cavendish

Abstract

This essay argues that Thomas Stanley's magisterial History of Philosophy influenced the evolution of Margaret Cavendish's thought in ways that have not been previously recognized. While scholars have discussed Cavendish's evolving views of atomism and materialism, a comparison of her attitudes toward Pythagoras and toward skepticism before and after 1660 suggests that Cavendish adopted a more nuanced approach to skepticism—and to philosophical debate and dissent more generally—after encountering Stanley's work. Her reading of Sextus Empiricus's Outlines of Pyrrhonism in Stanley's 1660 volume may also have informed her vigorous epistolary exchanges with Joseph Glanvill on the subject of witchcraft.