Anne Conway 1631 – 1679
Anne Conway was an English philosopher and one of the most original metaphysicians of the seventeenth century. Largely confined to her family estate by chronic and debilitating illness, she conducted an extensive correspondence with Henry More and Francis Mercury van Helmont and converted late in life to Quakerism. Her single treatise, the Principles of the Most Ancient and Modern Philosophy, published posthumously in Latin, defends a monistic vitalism in which spirit and body differ only in degree and every creature is capable of infinite improvement. The work influenced Leibniz, who praised her by name.
Key facts
- Nationality
- English
- Era
- Modern
- Movements
- Early Modern
Selected quotes
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Attributed to Anne Conway:
“Spirit and body differ only in degree, not in kind.”
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Attributed to Anne Conway:
“Body is nothing but fixed and condensed spirit; spirit is nothing but volatile body.”
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Attributed to Anne Conway:
“All creatures may be improved infinitely, becoming ever more like their Creator.”
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Attributed to Anne Conway:
“There is in every creature a principle of life and motion which is the very seed of God in it.”
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Attributed to Anne Conway:
“Goodness, even in the worst of creatures, will always remain to some extent.”