Thomas Traherne, Thomas Hobbes, and the Rhetoric of Realism

• Published in: The Seventeenth century Vol. 28; no. 4; pp. 419 - 439
• Main Author: Murphy, Kathryn
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• 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

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...