La contribución de Ralph Cudworth a la génesis de la poética del símbolo en Samuel Taylor Coleridgeun estudio sobre las fuentes británicas del Platonismo romántico inglés

Resumen

The main purpose of this work is to delve into the contribution of the philosophical system endorsed by the Cambridge Platonist, Ralph Cudworth, in The True Intellectual System of the Universe to the genesis of Coleridge's concept of the symbol and its related symbolic knowledge, central constituents of Coleridge's literary theory. Hence, we have attempted to isolate and describe one of the forces at work in Coleridge's thought in the limited chronological context of the period leading from 1795 to 1798, since his enthusiasm for Cudworth was at its highest level in that span of time. Our task is threefold: First, we provide a comprehensive view of the different articulations of the concept of symbol Coleridge defended throughout his career. With this initial step in our research, we intend to clarify and extend our knowledge of the concept, its birth, evolution, and its role in Coleridge's different interests. Later in our study we revert to the earliest and most formative years of the poet in order to get to the roots of the concept. Second, we explore the possible British Platonic sources of the Coleridgean symbol, and by extension, of the Romantic Movement. In order to perform this task, we first provide an analysis of the main ideas of the Cambridge Platonists in general and Ralph Cudworth in particular. In a second stage we delve into the reception of Cudworth's ideas in the thinkers of the late seventeenth century and eighteenth century so as to work out indirect founts for Coleridge's knowledge of the Cambridge Platonists' principles. Eventually, we will deal with the context of Coleridge's reading of The True Intellectual System of the Universe in the years 1795 and 1796. An analysis of some prose works by Coleridge, in which he copied or paraphrased specific passages from Cudworth's treatise, serves us to evaluate the extent of his knowledge of The System. Third, we devote the rest of our dissertation to the analysis of Coleridge's most formative years, which also coincide with his most prolific period of poetical production. In our dissertation we offer new insights into "The Destiny of Nations", "Religious Musings" and the so-called "Conversation Poems" in the light of those aspects of Cudworth's ontology and epistemology which Coleridge appears from our study to have been more enthusiastic about. The analysis of the poems will be carried out in two opposite direction. Towards the past, for we will seek to find the presence of Cudworth's thoughts in the philosophic body of the poems. Towards the future, for this analysis will allow us to explore their fate in Coleridge's later theorizations.