Thomas Traherne, Thomas Hobbes, and the Rhetoric of Realism

Thomas Traherne has often been seen as a mystic detached from the turbulence of his period. Recent scholarship has attempted to place him more firmly in context. This article contributes to this trend in arguing that Traherne's late works, especially Commentaries of Heaven, were shaped by the p...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Seventeenth century Vol. 28; no. 4; pp. 419 - 439
Main Author Murphy, Kathryn
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Durham Routledge 01.12.2013
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects
Christianity
Hobbes, Thomas (1588-1679)
Morality
reception of Leviathan
Rhetoric
Skinner, Quentin
Thomas Hobbes
Thomas Traherne
Traherne, Thomas (1637-1674)
Wallis, John
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Summary:Thomas Traherne has often been seen as a mystic detached from the turbulence of his period. Recent scholarship has attempted to place him more firmly in context. This article contributes to this trend in arguing that Traherne's late works, especially Commentaries of Heaven, were shaped by the pressure of responding to Thomas Hobbes's Leviathan. Though Traherne makes only one direct reference to Hobbes, his idiosyncrasies in thought, argument, and mode of expression are all fundamentally influenced by the need to counter Hobbes's account of ethics, metaphysics, and language. Traherne is particularly concerned to assert and display an ardent realism against Hobbes's nominalism. In doing so, he creates a complicated play of rhetorical figures, especially abusio or catachresis, as embodying theological commitments. This both places Traherne more clearly against the background of the intellectual history of the period in which he lived, and demonstrates his particularity as a writer.
ISSN:0268-117X
2050-4616
DOI:10.1080/0268117X.2013.845734