The Neoplatonic Hermeneutics of Ralph Cudworth

Abstract

The present study compares Cudworth’s method of interpretation of ancient texts with that of the Late Antique Neoplatonists, like Iamblichus, Proclus and Simplicius. Not only does Cudworth, like his Neoplatonic predecessors, attach himself to a long lasting tradition of early wisdom that, at least for the Christian Platonists, went back to Moses himself, but he also uses the same exegetical methods and Platonic and Aristotelian texts. Furthermore, the treatment of these texts as sacred implies that their importance is not based on their historical date, but on the authenticity of their doctrine. In a second part, we look briefly to the implications of this singular hermeneutics on Cudworth’s epistemology.