Philosopher and clergyman, born in Plymouth, Devon, SW England, UK. After studying at Oxford, he served as vicar of Frome (1662), rector of the Abbey Church in Bath (1666), and prebendary of Worcester (1678). He is known for The Vanity of Dogmatising (1661), in which he attacked scholastic philosophy, supported experimental science, and appealed for freedom of thought. He defended the work to the newly established Royal Society, of which he became a fellow in 1664. He also attacked the rationalizing scepticism of those who denied the existence of ghosts, witches, and other apparitions of the spirit.
Joseph Glanvill (1636-1680) was an English writer, philosopher, and clergyman.
Educated at Oxford University (B.A.
His writings display a variety of beliefs that seem deeply contradictory to contemporary people. On the one hand, he was the author of The Vanity of Dogmatizing, which attacked scholasticism and religious persecution and pled for religious toleration, the scientific method, and freedom of thought.
On the other hand, he also wrote Sadducismus Triumphatus, which decried scepticism about the existence and supernatural power of witchcraft. It deeply influenced Cotton Mather's Wonders of the Invisible World, written to justify the Salem, Massachusetts witchhunt.
In fact neither of his works are particularly contradictory. As a result Glanvill attempted to investigate incidents through interviewing witnesses and going to the site of the events. Secondly like his friend the philosopher Henry More, he thought that the existence of spirits was well documented in the Bible, and that the denial of spirits and demons was the first step towards atheism.
Glanvill is a graceful writer and his books are possibly unduly neglected.
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