Samuel Clarke’s Evolving Morean Absolutism

Samuel Clarke is best known for the ‘Newtonian’ views on space and time he espouses in the Leibniz-Clarke correspondence. However, his writings on this topic extend far beyond that, and can help us to understand the particulars of Clarke’s metaphysics—including whether he is actually of a mind with Newton. The major part of this chapter considers Clarke’s metaphysical and epistemological views on time and space, arguing that the views Clarke puts forward in various texts can be rendered consistent. It reads Clarke as holding a position close to that of Henry More, and not the same as that of Newton. The minor part of this chapter considers Clarke’s account of divine presence in time and space, and argues that Clarke is a holenmerist.