Abstract

This chapter considers the views of Margaret Cavendish and Anne Conway on liberty and necessity. It begins with an overview of the controversies about Cavendish’s views. It then argues that there are three aspects of Cavendish’s philosophy that point to a compatibilist account of freedom: her views on causation, her account of voluntary actions, and the motions of nature. It claims that Cavendish’s views are closer to those of her contemporary, Thomas Hobbes. With respect to Conway, it explicates her libertarian account of freedom for creatures and her compatibilist account of God’s freedom. It addresses two possible problems in Conway’s account: explaining why God would create creatures capable of choosing evil and how creatures directed toward the good are able to choose evil.