]
Damaris, Lady Masham (18 January 1659 – 20 April 1708) was an English writer, philosopher, theologian, and advocate for women's education who is characterized as a
proto-feminist
Protofeminism is a concept that anticipates modern feminism in eras when the feminist concept as such was still unknown. This refers particularly to times before the 20th century, although the precise usage is disputed, as 18th-century feminism ...
. She overcame some weakness of eyesight and lack of access to formal higher education to win high regard among eminent thinkers of her time. With an extensive correspondence, she published two works, ''A Discourse Concerning the Love of God'' (1696) and ''Thoughts in reference to a Vertuous or Christian Life'' (1705). She is particularly noted for her long, mutually-influential friendship with the philosopher
John Locke.
Family background
Early life
Ralph Cudworth (1617–88)
Damaris Cudworth, born on 18 January 1659,
was the daughter of
the Reverend
The Reverend is an honorific style most often placed before the names of Christian clergy and ministers. There are sometimes differences in the way the style is used in different countries and church traditions. ''The Reverend'' is correctly ...
Professor
Ralph Cudworth
Ralph Cudworth ( ; 1617 – 26 June 1688) was an English Anglican clergyman, Christian Hebraist, classicist, theologian and philosopher, and a leading figure among the Cambridge Platonists who became 11th Regius Professor of Hebrew ...
and his wife, Damaris Cudworth (née Cradock) (d. 1695), five years after her father became Master of
Christ's College in the
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...
(a position he occupied for the rest of his life). A distinguished
classicist
Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...
and
Regius Professor of Hebrew, Ralph Cudworth had been educated in the
non-conforming environment of
Emmanuel College during the 1630s. Both his father (a clergyman and royal chaplain also named
Ralph Cudworth
Ralph Cudworth ( ; 1617 – 26 June 1688) was an English Anglican clergyman, Christian Hebraist, classicist, theologian and philosopher, and a leading figure among the Cambridge Platonists who became 11th Regius Professor of Hebrew ...
) and his stepfather, the clergyman
John Stoughton (1593–1639), had previously studied and held Fellowships there, and had successively held the college
rectorate of
Aller, Somerset (where the younger Ralph had been born). He became a leading figure of the
Cambridge Platonist
The Cambridge Platonists were an influential group of Platonist philosophers and Christian theologians at the University of Cambridge that existed during the 17th century. The leading figures were Ralph Cudworth and Henry More.
Group and its nam ...
School, and poured immense erudition and originality into his great work, ''The True Intellectual System of the Universe'' (only the first very substantial part of which came to readiness by 1671, with publication in 1678). Overtly a refutation of
atheistic determinism, his work evolved in critique of aspects of
Calvinist
Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...
theology, in the light of his near-contemporary
René Descartes
René Descartes ( or ; ; Latinized: Renatus Cartesius; 31 March 1596 – 11 February 1650) was a French philosopher, scientist, and mathematician, widely considered a seminal figure in the emergence of modern philosophy and science. Ma ...
, and in opposition to
Thomas Hobbes
Thomas Hobbes ( ; 5/15 April 1588 – 4/14 December 1679) was an English philosopher, considered to be one of the founders of modern political philosophy. Hobbes is best known for his 1651 book ''Leviathan'', in which he expounds an influ ...
.
Damaris Cradock Andrewes (d. 1695)
Her mother, Damaris, daughter of Damaris and
Mathew Cradock of London (d. 1641), was first married to London merchant citizen Thomas Andrewes (d. 1653) (son of the Commonwealth
Lord Mayor of London
The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional pow ...
Sir
Thomas Andrewes
Sir Thomas Andrewes (died 1659) was a London financier who supported the parliamentary cause during the English Civil Wars, and sat as a commissioner at the High Court of Justice for the trial of Charles I. During the Third English Civil War, as L ...
), by whom there were several half-brothers and sisters. Her mother's stepmother Rebeccah (relict of Mathew Cradock) later married the Emmanuel College Platonist
Benjamin Whichcote, whose niece married her father's friend Dr
John Worthington (1657). Through her mother's family, Damaris (Lady Masham) was cousin to
Zachary Cradock
Zachary Cradock (1633–1695) was a provost of Eton, and brother of Samuel Cradock.
Early life
His father was settled in Rutland. He was educated in Cambridge at Emmanuel College, and Queens' College, and elected fellow of the latter on 2 Augus ...
,
Provost of Eton
Provost may refer to:
People
* Provost (name), a surname
Officials Government
* Provost (civil), an officer of local government, including the equivalent of a mayor in Scotland
* Lord provost, the equivalent of a lord mayor in Scotland
Milita ...
(1680–95), and
Samuel Cradock
Samuel Cradock, B.D. (1621?–1706) was a nonconformist tutor, who was born about 1621. He was an elder brother of Zachary Cradock.
Education
Cradock entered Emmanuel College, Cambridge, as a pensioner (fee-paying student) from Rutland, and was ...
, nonconformist tutor of
Wickhambrook
Wickhambrook is a village and civil parish in the West Suffolk district of Suffolk in eastern England. It is about south-west from Bury St Edmunds, halfway to Haverhill, off the A143 road.
Wickhambrook is the largest village by area in the ...
, Suffolk (both of whom were educated at
Emmanuel College, Cambridge during the 1640s and 1650s).
Damaris Cudworth's half-sister, Damaris Andrewes (d. 1687), married
Edward Abney, a student, graduate, and Fellow of
Christ's College (from 1649), who had obtained the higher degree of
Doctor of both laws
A doctor of both laws, from the Latin ''doctor utriusque juris'', or ''juris utriusque doctor'', or ''doctor juris utriusque'' ("doctor of both laws") (abbreviations include: JUD, IUD, DUJ, JUDr., DUI, DJU, Dr.iur.utr., Dr.jur.utr., DIU, UJD a ...
(
LL.D) and resigned his Fellowship to marry her (1661). Her half-brother, John Andrewes (d. after 1688), also studied at
Christ's College (from 1664) and held a Fellowship there (until c.1675). Her other half-brother, Matthew Andrewes (d. 1674), entered
Queens' College, Cambridge (1663/64), and was Fellow there at his death. Whilst her brother, Charles Cudworth, who died in India (1684), and for whom Locke observed her tender affection, may have been educated at
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...
; her other brothers attended
Christ's College: John Cudworth (an undergraduate under John Andrewes, and later Fellow and Lecturer in Greek (1672–84)), and Thomas Cudworth.
Education
Although her early life has left no record of formal schooling, the unusual collegiate context of her family environment (and her acquaintance with her father's Platonist circle) gave her advantages and insights in an age when higher education was not normally accessible to women.
[Frankel, Lois. "Damaris Cudsworth Masham." Vol. 3, in ''A History of Women Philosophers, 1600–1900'' by Mary Ellen Waith (Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1991.), 73.] The claims that she was taught by her father, or owed the development of her thought especially to
John Norris (an early associate with whom she came to differ), are to some extent superfluous: she was an intelligent young woman in a brilliant household of academics embedded in the collegiate life. Damaris herself emphasized the importance of the maternal influence on a child's education.
Her early letters to
John Locke show her experienced in philosophical discourse, capable in discussion of her father's Platonist views and having knowledge of many Platonist works.
[Frankel, ''A History of Women Philosophers, 1600–1900'', 73–74.] By 1682, she was well-read in contemporary philosophy. This was despite a certain weakness of eyesight which affected her ability to read as copiously as she wished. There is no medical record for this: John Norris referred to her 'blindness' in his ''Reflections upon the Conduct of Human Life'' (1690), but this was a statement which she, herself, contradicted and corrected him upon. John Locke also referred to her sight in correspondence with
Philip van Limborch
Philipp van Limborch (19 June 1633 – 30 April 1712) was a Dutch Remonstrants, Remonstrant theology, theologian.
Biography
Limborch was born on 19 June 1633 in Amsterdam, where his father was a lawyer. He received his education at Utrecht (city) ...
. Her scholarly calling, itself unusual for a woman in her time, was achieved in spite of this weakness.
Marriage (1685) and motherhood
In 1685, Damaris Cudworth (aged 26) married Sir Francis Masham, 3rd Baronet (c.1646–1723), of the Manor of Oates in
High Laver
High Laver is a village and civil parish in the Epping Forest district of the county of Essex, England. The parish is noted for its association with the philosopher John Locke.
History
High Laver is historically a rural agricultural parish, pred ...
in the county of Essex (she was thereafter styled Lady Masham). She and Sir Francis (a widower), already (with his previous wife, Mary Scott) the father of eight children, including the courtier
Samuel, 1st Lord Masham (1678/9–1758)), had one son: Francis Cudworth Masham (1686–1731). Little is known of their personal relationship: the marriage provided security, if no great social or educational advancement of itself. When her father, Ralph Cudworth, died in 1688: he left her such of the English books from his library as she should choose. Her mother maintained close connections with her daughter's household and, when she died (1695), she made extensive provision for her daughter and appointed
John Locke, Edward Clarke and Bishop
Edward Fowler (her executor) as trustees for the future welfare of her grandson, Francis Cudworth Masham (who later became Accountant-General to the Court of Chancery).
Correspondence and publications
From her early twenties onwards, she maintained a close personal relationship with John Locke (during the remainder of his life). They were probably brought together by a mutual friend, Edward Clarke.
[Hutton, ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy''.] They met sometime before 1682, and exchanged many personal, and often flirtatious, letters. Locke described her admirably in a letter to Phillipp van Limborch: “The lady herself is so well versed in theological and philosophical studies, and of such an original mind that you will not find many men to whom she is not superior in wealth of knowledge and ability to profit by it.”
She and Locke were of great importance to one another in their friendship and studies, and Locke took up residence in her household (from 1691 until his death in 1704). He brought with him his library (of nearly 2,000 books), purchased for her a writing desk, ink and quills, and paid for the binding of her works. Much of Locke's last will and testament is devoted to gifts, legacies and arrangements for Damaris, Lady Masham and her son, Francis. An account of Locke's last day (during which Lady Masham attended him), and of his character, was published in 1705.
Constant companions, they exchanged ideas and theories and entertained many other theologians and philosophers (including Sir
Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton (25 December 1642 – 20 March 1726/27) was an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author (described in his time as a " natural philosopher"), widely recognised as one of the grea ...
and
Franciscus Mercurius van Helmont). During this time she published her first work, ''A Discourse Concerning the Love of God'' (1696), which was a response to John Norris's ''Practical Discourses''. Shortly after Locke's death, she published her best-known work, ''Thoughts in Reference to a Vertuous or Christian Life'' (1705).
Both were published anonymously, to avoid prejudice or irrelevant courtesy towards a woman scholar:
Pierre Bayle
Pierre Bayle (; 18 November 1647 – 28 December 1706) was a French philosopher, author, and lexicographer. A Huguenot, Bayle fled to the Dutch Republic in 1681 because of religious persecution in France. He is best known for his '' Histori ...
(who easily ascertained her authorship) hastened to amend one of his previous (careless) observations, concerning her father's work, with an elaborate (and probably) sincere compliment upon her ''Savoir'' and other perfections. Her correspondence with
Gottfried Wilhem Leibniz explored their respective theories including the latter's work on
Pre-established harmony, on her father
Ralph Cudworth
Ralph Cudworth ( ; 1617 – 26 June 1688) was an English Anglican clergyman, Christian Hebraist, classicist, theologian and philosopher, and a leading figure among the Cambridge Platonists who became 11th Regius Professor of Hebrew ...
's work, and on the relationship between body and soul.
Death (1708), memorial, and portraits
Damaris Cudworth Masham died at Otes (20 April 1708), and was buried in the middle aisle of
Bath Abbey. Over her grave it was written of 'her Learning, Judgement, Sagacity, and Penetration together with her Candor and Love of Truth (Ballard, 337).
Portraits
No extant portraits of Damaris Cudworth Masham are known. According to an inventory, her mother owned a portrait, and
John Locke ordered one from Sir
Godfrey Kneller (1704), but both appear to have been lost.
Philosophy and advocacy
Often touted as the "Lockean feminist" by scholars (such as Jaqueline Broad and Lois Frankel), Damaris Cudworth Masham's public works consisted of a mix between her father's Platonism, Lockean theories and arguments, and her own proto-feminist ideals and advocacy. She criticised the double standard of men and women's moralities and women's lack of access to higher education.
In her ''Occasional Thoughts in reference to a Vertuous or Christian Life'' (1705), Damaris Cudworth Masham makes two important points regarding the inferior education given to women. Firstly, she argues that giving an inferior education to women leaves them unfit to be able to give their children a proper education (since most children, during this period, were given early education by their mothers and education was still mostly reserved for members of the elite). She writes,
“The improvements of Reason, however requisite to Ladies for their Accomplishment, as rational Creatures; and however needful to them for the well Educating of their Children, and to their being useful in their Families, yet are rarely any recommendation of them to Men; who foolishly thinking, that Money will answer to all things, do, for the most part, regard nothing else in the Woman they would Marry … Girls, betwixt silly Fathers and ignorant Mothers, are generally so brought up, that traditionary Opinions are to them, all their lives long, instead of Reason."
Here, Damaris Cudworth Masham argued that it would be a benefit to all mankind should women be allowed access to higher education since it would allow them to educate better their sons and daughters and advance reason in society.
Secondly, Cudworth argued that women should have access to education for not only their children's spiritual welfare but for their own. She argued that “Women have Souls to be sav’d as well as Men,” and that, by being blessed with rational thinking, it was imperative for women to understand the principles and values behind their own religious beliefs. “They
omenare, perhaps sometimes told in regard of what Religion exacts, They must ''Believe'' and ''Do'' such and such things, because the Word of God requires it; but they are not put upon searching the Scriptures themselves, to see whether, or no, these things are so."
[Masham, ''Occasional Thoughts''] She further argued that a woman's duty and knowledge should not be grounded on the "uncertain and variable Opinions of Men"
but that they should, instead, be able to nurture their minds as well as their bodies and form their own opinions about spirituality.
Influence on other philosophers
Damaris Cudworth Masham's work and correspondence with many of the great philosophers of the
Enlightenment may be argued to have influenced their resulting published works. Most notably, it is surmised that she influenced Locke's second revision of
An Essay Concerning Human Understanding
''An Essay Concerning Human Understanding'' is a work by John Locke concerning the foundation of human knowledge and understanding. It first appeared in 1689 (although dated 1690) with the printed title ''An Essay Concerning Humane Understan ...
. Locke worked on various revisions of this treatise (between 1689 until his death in 1704), during which time he resided, with the Mashams, at their manor of Oates,
High Laver
High Laver is a village and civil parish in the Epping Forest district of the county of Essex, England. The parish is noted for its association with the philosopher John Locke.
History
High Laver is historically a rural agricultural parish, pred ...
, Essex. Thus, it is not unlikely that Damaris Cudworth would have had some intellectual influence over aspects of these revisions. In revising the section "Of Power", Locke seems to adopt many of
Ralph Cudworth
Ralph Cudworth ( ; 1617 – 26 June 1688) was an English Anglican clergyman, Christian Hebraist, classicist, theologian and philosopher, and a leading figure among the Cambridge Platonists who became 11th Regius Professor of Hebrew ...
's ideas (and especially those contained in his unpublished manuscripts, which are considered the second and third parts to his ''The True Intellectual System of the Universe'' (1678)). Even though these manuscripts are not believed to have been in Damaris's possession until the death of her elder brother, John Cudworth (1726), the influence of Ralph Cudworth's ideas upon Locke's work cannot be ignored, and has led some historians to believe that it was Damaris Cudworth Masham herself (familiar with her father's works) who may have influenced Locke during this second revision of "Of Power." Damaris Cudworth Masham did make parallels to her father's ideas on free will (contained in his third manuscript), which appear in her publication ''Occasional Thoughts'',
"without a capacity in the Creature to act contrary to the Will of the Creator there could be no desert, or self-excellency in any Created Being; contrariety to the Will of God is therefore permitted in the Universe as a necessary result of Creaturely imperfection, under the greatest endowment that a Created Being is capable of having, viz. That of Freedom or Liberty of Action."
Thereby indicating that her father was likely to have passed-on many of his ideas, regarding free will and the rejection of determinism, to Damaris (either directly through the reading of his manuscripts or indirectly from her education in philosophical discourse).
[Broad. ''Journal of the History of Ideas'', 506.]
Works
*''A discourse concerning the Love of God'' (A. and J. Churchill at the Black-Swan in Paternoster-Row, London 1696)
Earlymoderntexts.com edition*''Occasional Thoughts in reference to a Vertuous or Christian Life'' (Awnsham and John Churchill at the Black-Swan in Paternoster-Row, London 1705). A
(accessed 8 December 2014)
Earlymoderntexts.com edition*''Briefwechsel zwischen Leibniz und Lady Masham. 1703–1705''. In: Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz: ''Philosophische Schriften'' (Weidmannsche Buchhandlung, Berlin 1887), vol. 3, pp. 331–375. [Leibniz writes in French, Lady Masham answers in English
Volume online]
Ancestry
References
Further reading
*Broad, Jacqueline, 2002, 'Damaris Masham', in ''Women Philosophers of the Seventeenth Century'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), pp. 114–140.
*Broad, Jacqueline, 2006, 'A Woman's Influence? John Locke and Damaris Masham on Moral Accountability,' ''Journal of the History of Ideas'', 67 no. 3 (July 2006): 489–510.
*Frankel, Lois, 1989, 1991, 1996,
Damaris Cudworth Masham' in Mary Ellen Waithe, ed., ''A History of Women Philosophers'', Vol. 3, (Kluwer Academic, Dordrecht 1991), pp. 73–85. (Reprinted from ''Hypatia'', 1989). Reprinted as 'Damaris Cudworth Masham, A seventeenth-century feminist philosopher' in Linda Lopez McAlister (ed), ''Hypatia's Daughters: 1500 Years of Women Philosophers'' (Indianapolis, Indiana University Press 1996), pp. 128–138.
*Hamou, Philippe, 2008, 'Enthousiasme et nature humaine: à propos d'une lettre de Locke à Damaris Cudworth', ''Revue de Métaphysique et Morale'', 3: 337–350.
*Hutton, Sarah, 1993, 'Damaris Cudworth, Lady Masham: between Platonism and Enlightenment', ''British Journal for the History of Philosophy'' 1 (1): 29–54.
*Hutton, Sarah, 2010, 'Damaris Masham', in P. Schuurman and S.-J. Savonius Wroth (eds.), ''The Continuum Companion to Locke'' (London & New York: Continuum), pp. 72–6.
*Hutton, Sarah, 2012, 'Religion, Philosophy and Women's Letters: Anne Conway and Damaris Masham', in Anne Dunan-Page and Clotilde Prunier (eds.), ''Debating the Faith: Religion and Letter-Writing in Great Britain, 1550–1800'' (Dordrecht: Springer).
*Hutton, Sarah. 'Lady Damaris Masham,' ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' (Stanford University 2014)
(accessed 8 December 2014)*Laslett, Peter, 1953, 'Masham of Oates', ''History Today'', 3: 535–43.
*Phemister, Pauline, 2007, ' ‘All the time and everywhere everything's the same as here’: the principle of uniformity in the correspondence between Leibniz and Lady Masham', in Paul Lodge (ed.), ''Leibniz and his Correspondents'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
*Simonutti, Luisa, 1987, 'Damaris Cudworth Masham: una Lady della Repubblica delle Lettere,' in ''Scritti in Onore di
Eugenio Garin
Eugenio Garin (May 9, 1909 – December 29, 2004) was an Italian philosopher and Renaissance historian. He was recognised as an authority on the cultural history of the Renaissance. Born at Rieti, Garin studied philosophy at the University of Flore ...
'' (Pisa: Scuola Normale Superiore), pp. 141–165.
External links
*
*
Discourse concerning the Love of God, 1696' available at
Earlymoderntexts'
*
Occasional thoughts regarding a Virtuous or Christian Life, 1705' available at
Earlymoderntexts'
*
Occasional Thoughts in reference to a Vertuous or Christian Life' available in
Project Gutenberg'. 25 August 2004.
*
Lady Damaris Mashamentry by Sarah Hutton in
'. 7 March 2014.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Masham, Damaris Cudworth
1659 births
1708 deaths
Cudworth family
English feminists
Feminist philosophers
English women philosophers
John Locke
Cambridge Platonists
17th-century English theologians
Epistemologists
Moral philosophers
Metaphysicians
17th-century English philosophers
Christian feminist theologians
17th-century English women
17th-century English people