Ralph Cudworth (1617 – 26 June 1688) was an English classicist, theologian and philosopher, a leading figure among the Cambridge Platonists. From a family background embedded in the early nonconformist environment of Emmanuel College in the University of Cambridge, where he studied, he became Regius Professor of Hebrew 1645–88, Master of Clare Hall 1645–54 and Master of Christ's College 1654–88. His great work, entitled The True Intellectual System of the Universe, was published in 1678. He was a leading opponent of Thomas Hobbes.
