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Walter Charleton (2 February 1619 – 24 April 1707) was a
natural philosopher Natural philosophy or philosophy of nature (from Latin ''philosophia naturalis'') is the philosophical study of physics, that is, nature and the physical universe. It was dominant before the development of modern science. From the ancient ...
and
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
writer. According to Jon Parkin, he was "the main conduit for the transmission of
Epicurean Epicureanism is a system of philosophy founded around 307 BC based upon the teachings of the ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus. Epicureanism was originally a challenge to Platonism. Later its main opponent became Stoicism. Few writings by Epi ...
ideas to England".Jon Parkin, ''Science, Religion and Politics in Restoration England: Richard Cumberland's De Legibus Naturae'' (1999), p. 149.


Life

He was the son of the rector of Shepton Mallett in
Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord ...
, where he was born 2 February 1619. He received his early education from his father, and when sixteen entered Magdalen Hall, Oxford, under the tuition of
John Wilkins John Wilkins, (14 February 1614 – 19 November 1672) was an Anglican clergyman, natural philosopher, and author, and was one of the founders of the Royal Society. He was Bishop of Chester from 1668 until his death. Wilkins is one of the ...
. At the early age of 22 (1641) he received the degree of M.D. and in the same year was appointed physician to
Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...
, who was then at
Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
. In 1650 Charleton settled in London, and was on 8 April admitted a candidate of the
College of Physicians A college of physicians is a national or provincial organisation concerned with the practice of medicine. {{Expand list, date=February 2011 Such institutions include: * American College of Physicians * Ceylon College of Physicians * College of P ...
. A royalist, he was appointed physician to the exiled king Charles II but remained in London writing, in Russell Street,
Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site ...
. :s:Charleton, Walter (DNB00) He was continued in his office of physician at the Restoration, and was one of the first elected
fellows of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemati ...
in 1663; on 23 January 1676 he was admitted a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians. He gave the first lectures delivered in the Cutlerian Theatre in Warwick Lane, in 1680 delivered the Harveian oration, and was president in 1689 and 1691. After his last year of presidency at the College of Physicians, Charleton left London and a dwindling medical practice. He retired to
Nantwich Nantwich ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It has among the highest concentrations of listed buildings in England, with notably good examples of Tudor and Georgian architecture. ...
; but returned to London, and was senior censor in the College of Physicians from 1698 to 1706, and delivered Harveian orations in 1702 and 1706, when he was also appointed Harveian librarian. He died 24 April 1707. He had in early life read much in Van Helmont, and spent time in reading and composition, rather than with patients.
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 infl ...
,
Lord Dorchester Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester (3 September 1724 – 10 November 1808), known between 1776 and 1786 as Sir Guy Carleton, was an Anglo-Irish soldier and administrator. He twice served as Governor of the Province of Quebec, from 1768 to 17 ...
, Sir Francis Prujean and George Ent were his friends.


Work

He was a copious writer also on
theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing t ...
, natural history, and
antiquities Antiquities are objects from antiquity, especially the civilizations of the Mediterranean: the Classical antiquity of Greece and Rome, Ancient Egypt and the other Ancient Near Eastern cultures. Artifacts from earlier periods such as the M ...
, and published '' Chorea Gigantum'' (1663) to prove that
Stonehenge Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, west of Amesbury. It consists of an outer ring of vertical sarsen standing stones, each around high, wide, and weighing around 25 tons, topped by connecting ...
was built by the
Danes Danes ( da, danskere, ) are a North Germanic ethnic group and nationality native to Denmark and a modern nation identified with the country of Denmark. This connection may be ancestral, legal, historical, or cultural. Danes generally regard ...
. Charleton claimed it was used by them as a place of assembly, and of the inauguration of kings. The only argument is that similar stone works exist in Denmark, a fact supplied to Charleton by the Danish antiquary, Wormius, with whom he had corresponded on the book of
Inigo Jones Inigo Jones (; 15 July 1573 – 21 June 1652) was the first significant architect in England and Wales in the early modern period, and the first to employ Vitruvian rules of proportion and symmetry in his buildings. As the most notable archi ...
in which Stonehenge is said to be a Roman temple. The ''Chorea Gigantum'' had a poem by
John Dryden '' John Dryden (; – ) was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who in 1668 was appointed England's first Poet Laureate. He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the p ...
written in its praise, the ''Epistle to Dr. Charleton'', prefixed to the presentation copy given to the king. He was one of the "character" writers, and in this kind of literature wrote an essay '' A Brief Discourse concerning the Different Wits of Men'' (1675).


Publications

* ''Deliramenta Catarrhi'' (1650) * ''The Darknes of
Atheism Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...
Dispelled by the Light of Nature: a physico-theologicall treatise'' (1652) * ''Physiologia Epicuro-Gassendo-Charletoniana, or a Fabrick of Science Natural, upon the Hypothesis of
Atoms Every atom is composed of a nucleus and one or more electrons bound to the nucleus. The nucleus is made of one or more protons and a number of neutrons. Only the most common variety of hydrogen has no neutrons. Every solid, liquid, ga ...
'' (1654; largely based on Pierre Gassendi's ''Animadversiones'', 1649) * ''Epicurus's Morals'' (1656) * ''The immortality of the human soul demonstrated by the light of nature'', London 1657. * ''Dissertatio epistolica de ortu animae humanae, Lugd niBatav rum' 1658. * ''Oeconomia Animalis'' (1659) * ''Natural history of nutrition, life, and voluntary motion'', London: Henry Herringman 1659. * ''The Ephesian and Cimmerian Matrons'', 1659. * ''Chorea Gigantum'' (1663) * ''Natural History of the Passions'' (1674; previously believed to be based on Jean-François Senault's ''De l'usage des passions'', 1641) * ''Enquiries into human nature'', London 1680. * ''The Harmony of Natural and Divine Laws'' (1682) * ''Three anatomic lectures'', London: Walter Kettilby 1683.


Notes


References

* Emily Booth (2005) ''A Subtle and Mysterious Machine: The Medical World of Walter Charleton (1619–1707)'' * Sabina Fleitmann, ''Walter Charleton (1620-1707), “Viruoso”: Leben und Werke'', Frankfurt: Peter Lang 1986. * Anna Maria Oller Adam, ''Walter Charleton (1620-1707): Filosofia Natural, Teologia Natural y Ètica'', PhD diss., Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona 1995. * Nina Tomaszewski (2018) ''Walter Charleton's "The Ephesian Matron / Matrona Ephesia". Contextual studies, bilingual edition and commentary'' ;Attribution * *


External links


Biography at the Royal College of Physicians

Encycolopedia.com, Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography, "Walter Charlton"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Charleton, Walter English ornithologists English philosophers Original Fellows of the Royal Society English naturalists 1619 births 1707 deaths Alumni of Magdalen Hall, Oxford Presidents of the Royal College of Physicians