John Smith (philosopher)

John Smith (* 1616 in Achurch, Northamptonshire , † August 3, 1652 in Cambridge ) was a British philosopher, mathematician and theologian who was one of the Cambridge Platonists .

Life

Smith was born to a farmer in 1616, not what was previously believed to be the son of a farmer. From 1636 he studied in Cambridge at Emmanuel College , to which most of the Cambridge Platonists belonged temporarily or permanently. His tutor was Benjamin Whichcote , one of the leaders of the Platonists. Whichcote also provided financial support to the destitute Smith. Smith received 1640/1641 the degree of a Bachelor of Arts , 1644 he became a Master of Arts . However, he could not be at Emmanuel College Fellow (member of the faculty), because according to the statutes only one fellow from each of the counties was allowed and there was already a fellow from Northamptonshire. At that time the English Civil War was raging ; Forces of Parliament had taken Cambridge and numerous fellows and college principals were removed from office. The Earl of Manchester , who carried out the impeachments and appointments on behalf of Parliament, transferred Smith to Queens' College , a fellow of which the young scholar remained until his untimely death. Smith taught math and Hebrew there. In 1651 he fell ill with consumption , to which he succumbed on August 3, 1652. The funeral took place on August 7th in the chapel of Queens' College. The funeral oration was given by the future Bishop of Ely Simon Patrick, who was one of the deceased's pupils and passed on his ideas.

Smith was held in high esteem in Cambridge, both as a teacher and as a preacher. He used to preach to college students in the chapel of Queens' College. His library, which was about 600 volumes and bequeathed to Queens' College, contained books on a wide variety of subjects, including medical and scientific literature.

Isaac Barrow was probably among the students who took Smith's math lectures; Barrow later remembered him with benevolence. The geometry of René Descartes probably belonged to the material .

Theological and philosophical position

In keeping with the fundamental beliefs of the Cambridge Platonists, Smith rejected the Calvinist doctrine of the double predestination , according to which the future bliss or damnation of every human being is predetermined by God. He turned against the condemnation of foreign forms of belief, advocated religious tolerance and taught that divine reason enables people to freely judge and act. He interpreted heaven and hell as mental states. He understood the kingdom of heaven of the Christian faith as an inner state of supreme joy that arises in the soul when it approaches God. He regarded hell as the state of the predominance of evil tendencies in the human soul. He believed that what matters in religion is a sincere effort with which one approaches true perfection; the more this succeeds, the less external regulations are required.

Smith's philosophical and theological position was strongly influenced by the Platonic, especially Neoplatonic, way of thinking. He liked to refer to Plato , Plutarch and Plotinus ; he also valued Descartes. With his reflections on the philosophy of religion, he proceeded from two basic assumptions of ancient Platonism : from Plato's concept of participation ( Methexis ) and from Plotin's doctrine of emanation .

By theology (divinity) Smith understood a divine life rather than a science of God. He said that Christ left no articles of faith for his disciples; rather, his main aim was to proclaim a holy life as the best way to a true faith. One must look for God in one's own soul, because thanks to its participation in the divine nature, it is able to grasp him. The self-contemplation of the soul helps her to understand God's nature, provided she has been purified beforehand. The knowledge of God takes place directly through a spiritual contact, i.e. through intuition , not through speculation and conclusions. Whoever recognizes the truth in oneself, attains true freedom, which is to be understood as conformity with one's own nature. Following the Platonic tradition, Smith assigned mathematics an important role on the path to the knowledge of God. He strongly opposed attempts to gain God's favor through sacrifices and prayers rather than through right action and to achieve goals through magical means such as incantation.

Aftermath

None of Smith's lectures and sermons were published during his lifetime. His estate was reviewed and published by his friend John Worthington , a Whichcote student and a fellow of Emmanuel College. Finally, in 1660, the Select Discourses collection appeared , containing ten sermons on basic questions of theology and philosophy. It is preceded by a biography of Smith written by Worthington.

Fonts

• John Smith: Select Discourses. Garland, New York 1978, ISBN 0-8240-1803-6 (reprinted from London 1660 edition).
• John Smith: Select Discourses. 4th, revised edition, ed. by Henry Griffin Williams, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1859 ( online ).

literature

Overview representations

• Graham Alan John Rogers: The Cambridge Platonists . In: Jean-Pierre Schobinger (Ed.): Outline of the history of philosophy . The Philosophy of the 17th Century , Volume 3: England , 1st Half Volume, Schwabe, Basel 1988, ISBN 3-7965-0872-3 , pp. 240–290, here: 272–274
• Sarah Hutton : Smith, John. In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography . Volume 51, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004, ISBN 0-19-861401-2 , pp. 200-201.

examination

• Stefan Weyer: The Cambridge Platonists. Religion and Liberty in England in the 17th Century. Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main et al. 1993, ISBN 3-631-45684-0 , pp. 121-129.

Web links

• Smith, John . In: John Venn , John Archibald Venn (eds.): Alumni Cantabrigienses . A Biographical List of All Known Students, Graduates and Holders of Office at the University of Cambridge, from the Earliest Times to 1900. Part 1: From the earliest times to 1751 , volume 4 : Hall – Zuingius . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1927, pp. 102 ( venn.lib.cam.ac.uk Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).

Remarks

1. ^ Stefan Weyer: The Cambridge Platonists. Frankfurt 1993, p. 121 f .; Sarah Hutton: Smith, John. In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Volume 51, Oxford 2004, pp. 200-201.
2. ^ Stefan Weyer: The Cambridge Platonists. Frankfurt 1993, p. 122.
3. ^ Mordechai Feingold: Isaac Barrow: divine, scholar, mathematician. In: Mordechai Feingold (Ed.): Before Newton. The life and times of Isaac Barrow. Cambridge 1990, pp. 1–104, here: 19.
4. ^ Stefan Weyer: The Cambridge Platonists. Frankfurt 1993, pp. 124-129.
5. ↑ Günter Frank: The reason of the God thought. Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt 2003, p. 247.
6. ^ Graham Alan John Rogers: The Cambridge Platonists. In: Jean-Pierre Schobinger (Ed.): Outline of the history of philosophy. 17th century philosophy. Volume 3: England. 1. Halbband, Basel 1988, pp. 240-290, here: 272-274; Günter Frank: The reason of the idea of ​​God. Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt 2003, pp. 248-253.
7. ^ Stefan Weyer: The Cambridge Platonists. Frankfurt 1993, pp. 122-124.