Sympathy in Harmony: Margaret Cavendish's Philosophy of Value

Margaret Cavendish (1623-1673) was the first woman to produce a comprehensive work of philosophy in English. At a time when women in Europe published only a minute proportion of books, often anonymously, Cavendish published more than a dozen, some in multiple editions, always in her own name. Her philosophical texts include Philosophical Fancies (1653), Philosophical and Physical Opinions (1655), Philosophical Letters (1664), Observations upon Experimental Philosophy (1668), and Grounds of Natural Philosophy (1668). Moreover, philosophical themes run throughout her literary work from Poems and Fancies (1953) to the science fiction novel The Blazing World (1666). Indeed, so prominent and persistent are those themes, it is misleading to divide sharply Cavendish's output into the philosophical and the non-philosophical.

This project will be the first to demonstrate that, through her remarkable corpus, Cavendish develops a systematic and original philosophy of value. This includes an aesthetics exploring the grounds of beauty, the expressiveness of music, the educative function of literature, and the nature of appreciation. A prominent theme is that aesthetic experience is a means to both mental health and living virtuously. In this way, Cavendish's aesthetics is bound up with her ethics. The working hypothesis is that Cavendish takes value - aesthetic and ethical - to be a real feature things possess due to their place within the natural order. This distinguishes her view from others emerging in the 17th century, when the modern scientific outlook was in its ascendency, according to which value is in some way imposed on a mechanical universe of matter in motion by us or by God.

I will present the results of this research in a ground-breaking monograph to serve as a cornerstone for future work on Cavendish. It will have a transformative impact on histories of aesthetics and ethics by recovering the views of a philosopher overlooked by mainstream narratives, views that run counter to those that are typically associated with the early modern era and that remain influential to this day.

Drawing on this research, I will lead a partnership with Colchester Museums marking the 400th anniversary of Cavendish's birth in that city. This will involve public engagement, knowledge-exchange with staff and volunteers, educational outreach, and the development of new teaching resources. The partnership will culminate in a new display at Colchester Castle exploring Cavendish's life, writings, and the relations between them. This will impact curatorial practice, supporting Colchester Museums in capitalising on and communicating the intellectual history of the city. It will also make a lasting contribution to public awareness of Cavendish and her philosophy, while facilitating appreciation of her literary work - work, again, infused with and informed by that philosophy.

I will pursue this theme further by promoting a sharing of ideas across traditional and, especially in Cavendish's case, obstructive disciplinary divides. In workshops, I will bring together philosophers and literary scholars to communicate Cavendish's philosophy of value, to explore its bearing on her poems, plays, stories, and novels, and to explore in turn what Cavendish's literary work reveals about her aesthetics and ethics. The results of these interactions will be published in a landmark edited volume. By involving early career researchers in these workshops, I will ensure that the next generation has the experience, skills, and impetus to continue the conversation.

Through the project, which includes bespoke development opportunities, I will grow from a leader in research within philosophy to a leader in interdisciplinarity, public engagement, and knowledge-exchange with the heritage sector. The anniversary of Cavendish's birth offers an ideal opportunity for an ambitious project that will take my capacities as a researcher in new directions.