Margaret Cavendish on Human Beings

Margaret Cavendish is a vitalist, materialist, and monist. She holds that human beings and other natural kinds are parts of the one material entity, “nature.” While human beings may not be superior to other animals in many ways, Cavendish does think that human beings have a type of knowledge and perception that is unique to their kind, that they strive for the continuance of their being, and that they join together into societies in order to achieve a more peaceful existence. This essay considers the formation of human beings, how their perception and knowledge differ from other nonhuman animals, how human beings are individuated, and in what sense they can be immortal. Finally, the essay argues that Cavendish’s views about the social nature of human beings mirror her views about the metaphysical structure of nature. The essay shows that Cavendish embraces natural and social hierarchy alongside a form of sexual equality that the essay dubs “Platonic feminism.”