Abstract

“Two Theses: Kenelm Digby’s Oeconomy of Nature and the Immortal Soul” investigates the role of two themes in the life’s works of Kenelm Digby (1603-1665): the idea of nature as working in a systematized way to place things to their best use; and, the idea that the human soul is immaterial, hence immune to the workings of nature, and rather immortal. This thesis argues that these two themes ought to be considered as foundational to Digby’s writings throughout his life and that their co-existence with his simultaneously scientific and experimental efforts to understand nature are mutually intertwined. Furthermore, “Two Theses: Kenelm Digby’s Oeconomy of Nature and the Immortal Soul” reveals Digby’s uniquely multifaceted project which ultimately uses mechanical philosophy to posit ideas of an interconnected nature, what we now recognize as ecological recycling, and how personal belief shapes the creation of knowledge.