Self-knowledge, Perception, and Margaret Cavendish’s Metaphysics of the Individual

Abstract For Margaret Cavendish, every single part of matter has self-knowledge, and almost perceptive knowledge. This paper asks what is at stake for Cavendish in ascribing self-knowing properties to matter. Whereas many commentators take perception self-knowledge be guides Cavendish’s epistemology, this takes them her metaphysics, that it shows these categories account individual specificity relationality. A a unique insofar as – relation other parts, the whole matter, part. so because purely self-referential complete, while knowledge relational.