Title:
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The educational influence of Cambridge Platonism : tutorial relationships and student networks at Christ's College, Cambridge, 1641-1688
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Assessments of the influence of the Cambridge Platonists have tended to focus on later
writers who explicitly adopted some of their ideas, or have suggested more vaguely that
their ideas resulted in liberal theology sometimes verging towards heterodoxy. This
thesis attempts to explore the 'educational influence' of Henry More and Ralph
Cudworth on a group of Cambridge students who have been selected on clear and
consistent principles. It presents a prosopographical study of undergraduates at Christ's
College, Cambridge, between 1641, when Henry More became a fellow, and 1688,
when the Master Ralph Cudworth died. Thirty-one students - whose tutors' names are
known, who were at Christ's throughout their undergraduate careers, who graduated
BA, who published works showing original thinking, and who could be identified with
certainty - have been arranged into three tutorial 'families': Cudworth and More's
circle, the intruded Puritan fellows' group and Ralph Widdrington's party. Beyond the
study of tutorial relationships, this thesis also explores the friendship and patronage
networks of tutors and students in their careers. The personalities, careers and writings
of tutors and students have been studied with three objectives. First, an attempt has
been made to assess the influence of tutors on students, especially as evidenced in their
writings, although a lack of published or manuscript writings by some tutors presents
acknowledged difficulties. Second, the possibility of discovering the corporate, if
complex, intellectual 'personality' of each group has been explored. Third, the specific
influence of Cudworth and More on individual students has been assessed; while this
was greatest in their own tutorial circle, there is also evidence of intellectual influence
and practical assistance III the other tutorial 'families'. The thesis represents an
unprecedented attempt to examine Oxbridge tutorial influence, using a new
methodology which could potentially be applied to the students of other major thinkers
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