{"product_id":"well-ordered-universe-deborah-boyle-9780190234805","title":"Well-Ordered Universe: The Philosophy of Margaret Cavendish","description":"The prolific Margaret Cavendish (1623-1673) published books on natural philosophy as well as stories, plays, poems, orations, allegories, and letters. Her mature philosophical system offered a unique panpsychist theory of Nature as composed of a continuous, non-atomistic, perceiving, knowing matter. In contrast to the dominant philosophical thinking of her day, Cavendish argued that all matter has free will and can choose whether or not to follow Nature's rules. \u003cem\u003eThe Well-Ordered Universe \u003c\/em\u003eexplores the development of Cavendish's natural philosophy from the atomism of her 1653 poems to the panpsychist materialism of her 1668 \u003cem\u003eGrounds of Natural Philosophy. \u003c\/em\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eDeborah Boyle argues that her natural philosophy, her medical theories, and her social and political philosophy are all informed by an underlying concern with order, regularity, and rule-following. This focus on order reveals interesting connections among apparently disparate elements of Cavendish's philosophical program, including her views on gender, on animals and the environment, and on sickness and health. Focusing on the role of order in Cavendish's philosophy also helps reveal key differences between her natural philosophy and her more conservative social and political philosophy. Cavendish believed that humans' special desire for public recognition often leads to an unruly ambition, causing humans to disrupt society in ways not seen in the rest of Nature. Thus, \u003cem\u003eThe Well-Ordered Universe \u003c\/em\u003edefends Cavendish as a royalist who endorsed absolute monarchy and a rigid social hierarchy for maintaining order in human society.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Deborah Boyle\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0190234806\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780190234805\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Oxford Univ PR\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 12\/01\/2017\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 286\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.15lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.30h x 6.20w x 1.10d","brand":"Deborah Boyle","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":48443297956095,"sku":"9780190234805","price":125.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_327f81ec-0590-4fa8-9d73-39f28795bea5.jpg?v=1777204563","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/well-ordered-universe-deborah-boyle-9780190234805","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}