In existographies, Daniel Scargill (1647-c.1690) (IQ:#|#) [FA:53] (CR:2) was an English Hobbesian-Epicurean stylized mechanical philosopher, noted for []
Overview
In 1668, Scargill, age 21, defended a thesis which asserted that the origin of the world could be explained mechanically. [1]
In Mar 1668, Scargill was expelled from Cambridge for having “asserted several impious and atheistical tenets to the great dishonor of god”. Ralph Cudworth, one of Hobbes most intellectually formidable opponents, was one of the one’s who signed the expulsion order.
Scargill, some months later, was informed that he could be reinstated to the university, provided that he make a public recantation, i.e. recant his atheist views.
On 25 Jul 1669, Scargill, after making two drafts that were rejected by the university, delivered his now famous “Public Recantation”, delivered at the University Church of St. Mary the Great, main part of the recant is as follows: [2]
“Whereas I Daniel Scargill, late batchelour of arts, and fellow of Corpus Christi College; in the University of Cambridge, being through the instigation of the devil possessed with a foolish proud conceit of my own wit and not having the fear of god before my eyes: Have lately vented and publicly asserted in the said university diverse wicked, blasphemous, and atheistical positions (particularly, that all right of dominion is founded only in power: that all moral righteousness is founded only in the positive law of the civil magistrate ...), professing that I gloried to be an Hobbist and an atheist; and vaunting, that Hobbs should be maintained by ‘Daniel’, that is, by me. Agreeably unto which principles and positions, I have lived in great licentiousness; swearing rashly; drinking intemperately; boasting myself insolently; corrupting others by my pernicious principles and examples: to the dishonor of god; the reproach of the university; the scandal of Christianity; and the just offense of mankind. Wherefore, I do here in the presence of god, angels, and men, cast myself down in a deep dread of the just judgements and vengeance of god upon the accursed atheism of this age, acknowledging myself to be highly guilty of the growth and spreading thereof, having contributed what my profane wit could devise, or my foul mouth express, to instill it into others or confirm them therein. In a deep sense of that wretched part I have acted in the propagating thereof, I do now abhor myself in dust and ashes, and from the bottom of my heart, I do disclaim, renounce, detest, and abhor those execrable positions asserted by me or any other: particularly: that there is a desirable glory in being and being reputed an atheist: which I implied when I expressly affirmed that I gloried to be an Hobbist and an atheist.”
In respect to this Scargill recantation, as summarized by Steven Shapin (1985), came in the wake of the "Reformation", when government was attempting to "control" the publication of information, and that how Hobbes Leviathan was one such printing suppression. [3]
Education
In 1662, Scargill, age 15, was admitted “sizar” (Ѻ), i.e. financially assisted undergraduate, at Corpus Christi, Cambridge, during which time he came under the guidance of physician and new science advocate Thomas Tenison, close friend of John Spencer (1630-1693) (Ѻ) and son-in-law of Richard Love. Scargill, according to John Parkin (2001), started off as one of Spencer's “brightest proteges”, but soon turned into his worst nightmares, after learning where he was going with his radical views.
Other
In 2003, Jennifer Hecht, in her Doubt: a History, incorrectly and or typographically cited Scargill as “David” Scargill, which has led to a certain amount of citation misinformation.
Quotes | By
The following are noted quotes:
“The soul of man is but a trembling atom.”
— Daniel Scargill (1668), comment to Thomas Tenison [1]
“There is desirable glory in being, and being reputed, an atheist; which I implied when I expressly affirmed that I gloried to be a Hobbist and an atheist.”
— Daniel Scargill (1669), “Recantation” at Cambridge University [2]
References
1. Parkin, Jon. (1999). “Hobbism in the Later 1660s: Daniel Scargill and Samuel Parker” (pdf), Historical Journal, University of York.2. (a) Berman, David. (2013). A History of Atheism in Britain: From Hobbes to Russell (Scargill, 8+ pgs; quote, pg. 59). Routledge.
(b) Hecht, Jennifer M. (2003). Doubt: A History: The Great Doubters and Their Legacy of Innovation from Socrates and Jesus to Thomas (pg. 324). HarperOne.
2. (a) Scargill, Daniel. (1669). “Public Recantation”, delivered at University Church of St. Mary the Great, Cambridge University, Jul 25.
(b) Mintz, Samuel I. (2010). The Hunting of Leviathan: Seventeenth-century Reactions to the Materialism and Moral Philosophy of Thomas Hobbes (pgs. 50-51). Cambridge University Press.
3. Shapin, Steven; Schaffer, Simon. (1985). Leviathan and the Air Pump: Hobbes, Boyle, and the Experimental Life (pg. 294). Princeton, 2011.
External links
● Daniel Scargill (fl.1669) – OxfordReference.com.
