Cavendish and the Problem of Inanimate Matter’s Motion

This paper discusses a pressing problem that arises within Margaret Cavendish’s natural philosophy. Cavendish’s conceptions of matter and causation give rise to the problem in question. Inanimate matter is devoid of self-motion and can only be moved by animate matter. Simultaneously, all caused motion is supposed to be occasioned self-motion. Consequently, it appears that the principal conceptions of Cavendish’s natural philosophy give rise to an inconsistency. I survey several options for resolving the problem that rely on amendments to Cavendish’s conceptions of matter or causation and find them to be unsuccessful. I then propose a solution that makes use of Alison Peterman’s interpretation of Cavendish as endorsing compositional motion, and discuss its virtues and implications.