Angelic bodies: mechanicism and vitalism in an Early Modern angelological debate

This article analyses a brief Early Modern exchange on the subject of angelic corporeity between John Webster and Benjamin Camfield. As a microhistorical case study, it aims to reveal the real stakes behind this seemingly obscure angelological topic. While operating within the dichotomy of what they term the ‘Scholastic’ and ‘Platonic’ positions (i.e. angels not having or having bodies, respectively), Webster and Camfield are in fact transcending these traditional terms of the debate, using it instead to discuss typically Early Modern questions of epistemology and theory of matter. As borderline cases, angels thus allow them to ‘scientifically’ explore the limits of materiality and the possibility of knowing the imperceptible. As a case study, the debate between Webster and Camfield thus illustrates the intricate interactions between the old and the new, between angelology and the emerging science.