Sympathy in Harmony

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Margaret Cavendish (1623-1673) was a philosopher, scientist, essayist, critic, biographer, and author of plays, poems, and prose. While she has received increasing attention in recent years, Sympathy in Harmony is the first book to examine Cavendish's philosophy of value. Is there such a thing as value? If so, is value a fundamental feature of reality or does it admit of explanation? Does the value something possesses depend in some way on the value we take it to possess? Is our taking something to possess value a matter of belief, say, or of feeling? Either way, is it an exercise of reason?

Daniel Whiting demonstrates Cavendish's philosophy of value to be systematic, continuous with her metaphysics, philosophy of mind, and epistemology, and wide-ranging. Her reflections encompass the beauty of the natural world, the expressive qualities of music, the pedagogical role of literature, the free play of the imagination, the nature of virtue, the depth of moral disagreement, and the limits of moral theory. By exploring Cavendish's perspectives on these varied topics, Whiting unearths a unified conception of value. He shows that that conception is distinctive relative to that of her peers-including Rene Descartes, Kenelm Digby, Thomas Hobbes, and Henry More-and indebted to ancient thought. At the same time, Whiting demonstrates the significance of Cavendish's writings for contemporary aesthetics and ethics.