Cudworth on Types of Consciousness

Cudworth on Mind, Body, and Plastic Nature

“…Central to Cudworth’s own philosophical system is a dualism of corporeal and incorporeal substances, the fundamental distinguishing features of which are passivity and activity respectively (Passmore 1951, 27; Lähteenmäki 2010, 12).…”

“…Whereas humans can understand the reasons for their actions, deliberate about which actions to perform, and have free choice in their commission, animals do not understand the reasons for their actions, are unable to deliberate, and the natural instincts by which they act are ‘a kind of Fate upon them’ (TIS 158). As such, animals lack ‘conscience’ (or ‘consciousness’ in a distinct, ‘peculiar’, sense): the awareness that we have of the moral value of our own actions, and which is a necessary condition for moral deliberation and moral improvement (TF XIX, 201; for further discussion of Cudworth’s conceptions of consciousness, see Thiel 1991 and Lähteenmäki 2010).…”

“…He argues that explanations of phenomena that cite occult qualities – for instance, that an apple falls because it has tendency to fall – are really no explanations at all, but simply an admission that the cause is unknown. In contrast, explaining the regularity and order in nature by citing plastic nature is informative because it explains the regularity and order in terms of a mental cause: God (TIS 154–5; see also Lähteenmäki 2010: 61, n. 31).…”