John Norris, sometimes called John Norris of Bemerton (1657–1712), was an English

theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

associated with the

Cambridge Platonists The Cambridge Platonists were an influential group of Platonist philosophers and Christian theologians at the University of Cambridge that existed during the 17th century. The leading figures were Ralph Cudworth and Henry More. Group and its nam ...

Life

John Norris was born at Collingbourne Kingston,

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

. He was educated at

Winchester School Winchester College is an English public school (a long-established fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) with some provision for day attendees, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 as ...

, and

Exeter College, Oxford Exeter College (in full: The Rector and Scholars of Exeter College in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, and the fourth-oldest college of the university. The college was founde ...

, gaining a B.A. in 1680. He was later appointed a fellow of

All Souls College, Oxford All Souls College (official name: The College of All Souls of the Faithful Departed, of Oxford) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Unique to All Souls, all of its members automatically become fellows (i.e., full me ...

(M.A. 1684). He lived a quiet life as a country parson and thinker at Fugglestone St Peter with Bemerton, Wiltshire, from 1692 until his death early in 1712.

Works

In philosophy he was a

Platonist Platonism is the philosophy of Plato and philosophical systems closely derived from it, though contemporary Platonists do not necessarily accept all doctrines of Plato. Platonism has had a profound effect on Western thought. At the most fundam ...

and mystic. He became an early opponent of

John Locke John Locke (; 29 August 1632 (Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.) – 28 October 1704 (Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.)) was an English philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the most influential of the Enlightenment thi ...

, whose ''

An Essay Concerning Human Understanding ''An Essay Concerning Human Understanding'' is a work by John Locke concerning the foundation of human knowledge and understanding. It first appeared in 1689 (although dated 1690) with the printed title ''An Essay Concerning Humane Understand ...

'' (1690) he attacked in ''Christian Blessedness or Discourses upon the Beatitudes'' in the same year; he also combatted Locke's theories in his ''Essay toward the Theory of the Ideal or Intelligible World'' (1701–4). He attacked religious schism in ''Christian Blessedness'' and ''The Charge of Schism, Continued.'' Others among his 23 works are ''An Idea of Happiness'' (1683), ''Miscellanies'' (1687), ''Theory and Regulation of Love'' (1688), and a ''Discourse concerning the Immortality of the Soul'' (1708). His most popular work is ''A Collection of Miscellanies, consisting of Poems, Essays, Discourses and Letters'' (1687). His frequently-cited poem ''The Resignation'' was often published during the first half of the eighteenth century.

Samuel Richardson Samuel Richardson (baptised 19 August 1689 – 4 July 1761) was an English writer and printer known for three epistolary novels: '' Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded'' (1740), '' Clarissa: Or the History of a Young Lady'' (1748) and '' The Histo ...

quoted it to

Andrew Millar Andrew Millar (17058 June 1768) was a British publisher in the eighteenth century. Biography In 1725, as a twenty-year-old bookseller apprentice, he evaded Edinburgh city printing restrictions by going to Leith to print, which was considered be ...

(a prominent London bookseller) on the death of Millar's son, possibly from the then most recent edition, ''A Collection of Miscellanies'' (London: E. Parker, 1740).

References

* Acworth, Richard (1979). ''The philosophy of John Norris of Bemerton: (1657-1712)'' (Studien und Materialien zur Geschichte der Philosophie : Kleine Reihe ; Bd. 6) * Selections from the Worlds Devotional Classics. *

External links

* *Yang, June. "John Norris". ''The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' (Fall 2008 ed.), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2008/entries/john-norris/. {{DEFAULTSORT:Norris, John 1657 births 1712 deaths Cambridge Platonists English male poets