Conway's Demonstration of a Mediator Between God and Creatures
In her sole philosophical treatise, The Principles of the Most Ancient and Modern Philosophy, Anne Conway (1631-1679) offers a demonstration of the proposition that, in addition to God and creatures, there is a being whose essence is the medium between God’s essence and creatures’ essence. We offer...
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2024-11-01
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| Series: | Journal of Modern Philosophy |
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| Online Access: | https://jmphil.org/article/id/2041/ |
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| author | Douglas Bertrand Marshall |
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| author_sort | Douglas Bertrand Marshall |
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| description | In her sole philosophical treatise, The Principles of the Most Ancient and Modern Philosophy, Anne Conway (1631-1679) offers a demonstration of the proposition that, in addition to God and creatures, there is a being whose essence is the medium between God’s essence and creatures’ essence. We offer an interpretation of Conway’s demonstration that reveals its dependence on a rational principle ('PME'): if beings with extreme natures are united, then they are united by means of a being whose nature is the medium between the extremes. We also assess the extent to which Conway offers a justification for her metaphysics by demonstrating her claims from principles known by the understanding. Conway’s philosophical demonstrations are suggestive of a rationalist position on which her metaphysics may be proved from a small number of propositions established independent of experience. However, we ultimately argue that Conway’s philosophical methodology is not rationalist in this sense: for Conway is willing to take our daily experience as the evidence for a metaphysical principle, and also to argue for her philosophy on the basis of a consensus among authoritative texts. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-138f60aea32d4d78a1601f51833c0f1b |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2644-0652 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-11-01 |
| publisher | Aperio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Modern Philosophy |
| spelling | doaj-art-138f60aea32d4d78a1601f51833c0f1b2025-01-31T16:09:01ZengAperioJournal of Modern Philosophy2644-06522024-11-016010.25894/jmp.2041Conway's Demonstration of a Mediator Between God and CreaturesDouglas Bertrand Marshall0Carleton CollegeIn her sole philosophical treatise, The Principles of the Most Ancient and Modern Philosophy, Anne Conway (1631-1679) offers a demonstration of the proposition that, in addition to God and creatures, there is a being whose essence is the medium between God’s essence and creatures’ essence. We offer an interpretation of Conway’s demonstration that reveals its dependence on a rational principle ('PME'): if beings with extreme natures are united, then they are united by means of a being whose nature is the medium between the extremes. We also assess the extent to which Conway offers a justification for her metaphysics by demonstrating her claims from principles known by the understanding. Conway’s philosophical demonstrations are suggestive of a rationalist position on which her metaphysics may be proved from a small number of propositions established independent of experience. However, we ultimately argue that Conway’s philosophical methodology is not rationalist in this sense: for Conway is willing to take our daily experience as the evidence for a metaphysical principle, and also to argue for her philosophy on the basis of a consensus among authoritative texts.https://jmphil.org/article/id/2041/Anne ConwayMetaphysicsPrinciples of ContinuityCausationTrinitariansimEarly Modern Rationalism |
| spellingShingle | Douglas Bertrand Marshall Conway's Demonstration of a Mediator Between God and Creatures Journal of Modern Philosophy Anne Conway Metaphysics Principles of Continuity Causation Trinitariansim Early Modern Rationalism |
| title | Conway's Demonstration of a Mediator Between God and Creatures |
| title_full | Conway's Demonstration of a Mediator Between God and Creatures |
| title_fullStr | Conway's Demonstration of a Mediator Between God and Creatures |
| title_full_unstemmed | Conway's Demonstration of a Mediator Between God and Creatures |
| title_short | Conway's Demonstration of a Mediator Between God and Creatures |
| title_sort | conway s demonstration of a mediator between god and creatures |
| topic | Anne Conway Metaphysics Principles of Continuity Causation Trinitariansim Early Modern Rationalism |
| url | https://jmphil.org/article/id/2041/ |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT douglasbertrandmarshall conwaysdemonstrationofamediatorbetweengodandcreatures |