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1. PHIL1002 Mind And World
Answers:
Thinkers and philosophers of the seventeenth century had begun to break out of the
shackles of all the theories which were historically laid down. Some wanted to break away
from the theories and establish their own ideas independently and others had based their
study on the historical theories laid down by Aristotle, Descartes and other famous
philosophers and thinkers. Rejecting the previous ideas and doctrines, Margaret Cavendish
established several main philosophies which were against the traditional Aristotelian
mechanical philosophy. She was a poet, scientist, philosopher, playwright in the
seventeenth century. Her philosophies were mainly based on the formation of nature. She
had studied the functions of different objects to understand how they work together and
effects they have on each other. The objects were divided between material and immaterial
objects (Detlefsen, 2007). While establishing new theories based on the functions of these
objects, the substances of nature was focused on along with their movement was given a lot
of attention. Several studies and theories were made on these. The study of nature and the
existing objects led to the integral question of the existence of super natural elements, God
and souls. Cavendish’s approach to such ideas was seen to be backed by logic which had
evidently raised controversies and several kinds of questions (Detlefsen, 2009).
“Not probable that the infinite parts of nature should move so variously, nay, so orderly and
methodically as they do, without knowing what they do, or why, or whether they move” are
the words said by Cavendish where the main focus remains on the parts of the nature
(Cavendish, 2020). The parts of nature are told to move in a diverse manner which is set in
an order or method. The particles are not aware of the function, they are not aware of their
movement but they still follow the same pattern every time. Cavendish explains that this is
the inexplicable rule of nature which cannot be backed by reasons or logic. This inexplicable
factor of the nature shows that the particles do not know that they are moving or the reason
behind their movement . In one of her theories she had established that “Matter is self-
moving”. Along with Descartes she strengthens her idea that matter is figurative bur she
challenges his theory at the same time saying that matters are active and is self moving. She
argues against all the theories which were laid by other philosophers that the matters and
bodies in the nature move. They either move themselves or they are moved by other bodies.
She further argues that a body cannot be transferred its motion to another body therefore,

2. the bodies have been tied to a rigid pattern of movement. Various objections have occurred
regarding this where people have pointed out that not all objects move. There are some
objects which remain in the state of inertia. Cavendish explains that even when a matter is
in rest, it is moving; it is always in the state of motion (Rees and Newcastle, 2003).
The philosophical book “Observations upon Experimental Philosophy” written by Margaret
Cavendish which was originally published in 1666 had in several ways introduced new
revised theories and ideas to the philosophies which were considered as the foundation of
the world of philosophy (Boyle, 2015). Her metaphysics later turned out to be an area of
very interesting studies. Her metaphysics and concept of materialism had made it
challenging for several philosophers to understand her perspective or concept. She had first
begun by breaking the entire idea down. She stated that the nature is divided into three
categories. Firstly the rational animate matter, secondly the sensitive animate matter and
thirdly the inanimate matter. It is very interestingly laid down by her that no particle in the
nature can be imagined and they must contain all three types of matter. Thus, the nature
can be called a composite of all three kinds of matter. It is a concrete compact element
which is made up of the three matters which are continuously moving on their own in their
own way. She has also aligned the idea of self motion along with knowledge. Her statement
explains that “Whatsoever hath an innate motion hath knowledge; for knowledge lives in
motion, as motion lives in matter” (Siegfried, 2022).
A certain part of her study had claimed that the bodies around us are also said to have
intelligence along with knowledge. For instance immaterial things were unintelligible which
indicates that immaterial objects cannot appear or emerge from rational or sensory ideas.
Such objects or matters or particles will require some sort of study. Here she had included
spirits, souls, existence of God and supernatural elements. Her argument consisted that
ideas are very different from the existence of matter; ideas are mere configuration of matter
(Mendelson, 2016). Immaterial things are not tangible and do not have any shape or figure
because they were never seen or studied about. The results or outcomes are thus not
accurate, making the existence of immaterial things extremely irrational. She had argued
that immaterial things which are often considered to be extremely important by people
exist in the form of an idea. She said this is why ideas cannot resemble them or represent
the accurate figure of immaterial objects. She had thus successfully challenged the idea of a
concrete superior entity whose purpose was to give strength to the people. Using the
imaginary figure of this immaterial object, several powerful structures and religious
reforms had taken the advantage to politically take control and muffle the voices of the
people in the name of God or any holy body (Siegfried and Sarasohn, 2016 ). This entire idea
is wholly rejected and opposed by Cavendish as it cannot be a proven substance belonging
to the nature; it is rather imaginable. In the seventeenth century, Cavendish is seen to be
extremely ahead of her time to contribute and question the preconceived notions with the
help of carefully studied concepts and logic during the time when people had started to
blindly follow a certain power structure.

3. References:
Boyle, D., 2015. Margaret Cavendish on Perception, Self?Knowledge, and Probable
Opinion. Philosophy Compass, 10(7), pp.438-450.
Cavendish, M., 2020. Grounds of natural philosophy. Broadview Press.
Detlefsen, K., 2009. Margaret Cavendish on the relation between god and world. Philosophy
Compass, 4(3), pp.421-438.
Detlefsen, K., 2007. Reason and freedom Margaret Cavendish on the order and disorder of
nature.
Mendelson, S., 2016. The God of Nature and the Nature of God. In God and Nature in the
Thought of Margaret Cavendish (pp. 43-58). Routledge.
Siegfried, B.R. and Sarasohn, L.T., 2016. God and nature in the thought of Margaret
Cavendish. Routledge.
Siegfried, B.R., 2022. The Natural Philosophy of Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle:
Nature, Self-Knowing Matter, and the Dialogic Universe. In The Palgrave Handbook of
Women and Science since 1660 (pp. 27-45). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.