DrJames Mackey

My doctoral research concerned the recovery of Stoicism in the 17th century. I argued that properly understanding Stoicism in this time period involves understanding Stoicism distinctly from the way we understand it today. We can do this by referencing the work of the “Neo-Stoics” who published a number of commentaries reinterpreting Stoicism in the late 16th and early 17th century. Most of my work is based around the idea that, once we recognize the different senses of “Stoicism” in these texts, we can reinterpret the way Neo-Stoicism figured into the moral philosophies of Descartes, Malebranche, Norris, Astell, Princess Elisabeth, Damaris Masham, John Locke and other 17th century thinkers. 

Currently, I am interested in John Norris and Mary Astell's contributions to the history of 18th century British moral philosophy. Astell has recently exploded in popularity among historians due to her place as a "proto-feminist" arguing in favour of the education of women in her Serious Proposal to the Ladies, pt.I and II (1694, 1697). I am interested in explaining some of the philosophical commitments that informed these views, paying particular attention to the way Astell was influenced by other philosophers in her own time like Nicolas Malebranche and John Norris. I am also very interested in Malebranche and Norris in their own right, and I'd like to try and figure out whether these figures (and others) constitute a movement of Stoic/Platonist inspired thinking about moral philosophy in early 18th century Britain.