Ralph Cudworth

Ralph Cudworth
11th Regius Professor of Hebrew, University of Cambridge
In office
1645–1688
Preceded byRobert Metcalfe
Succeeded byWolfram Stubbe
14th Master of Christ’s College, Cambridge
In office
1654–1688
Preceded bySamuel Bolton
Succeeded byJohn Covel
26th Master of Clare Hall, Cambridge
In office
1645 (1650) – 1654
Preceded byThomas Paske
Succeeded byTheophilus Dillingham
Personal details
Born1617 (1617)
Aller, Somerset, England
Died26 June 1688(1688-06-26) (aged 70–71)
Spouse
Damaris Cradock Andrewes
(m. 1654)
Children4, including Damaris Cudworth Masham
Parents
RelativesJames Cudworth (brother)
Alma materUniversity of Cambridge:
Ecclesiastical career
ReligionChristianity (Anglican)
ChurchChurch of England
Ordained
  • 1650 (Priest)
Offices held
Vicar, Gt Wilbraham (1656)
Rector, N. Cadbury (1650–6)
Rector, Toft (1656–62)
Rector, Ashwell (1662–88)
Prebendary, Gloucester (1678)

Ralph Cudworth FRS (/rf ˈkʊdɜːrθ/ rayf KUUD-urth; 1617 – 26 June 1688) was an English Anglican clergyman, Christian Hebraist, classicist, theologian and philosopher, and a leading figure among the Cambridge Platonists who became 11th Regius Professor of Hebrew (1645–88), 26th Master of Clare Hall (1645–54), and 14th Master of Christ's College (1654–88).[1] A leading opponent of Hobbes's political and philosophical views, his magnum opus was his The True Intellectual System of the Universe (1678).[2]

  1. ^ J.A. Passmore, Ralph Cudworth: An Interpretation (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 1951)
  2. ^ D.A. Pailin, 'Cudworth, Ralph (1617–88)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2004).