Nature, man, and the state: Margaret Cavendish on the continuity between natural and social order

This paper examines whether and to what extent it is justified to interpret Margaret Cavendish as freely applying insights from natural philosophy to moral and political philosophy, and vice versa. Two examples of such transfer of theses and arguments are examined, and it is established that Cavendish proceeds in such a way on principled grounds. At the same time, there are limits to the extent to which an analogy between natural and social orders can be applied, most of all due to her views on human nature. These limits do not jeopardize the grounding of the analogy in the relation of sympathy which is instantiated throughout nature, including human societies. It is shown that the relation of sympathy, modeled on human relations, can provide a basis for potential solutions of some problems that arise for Cavendish’s theory of causation.