The Principles of the Most Ancient and Modern Philosophy
by Anne Conway · Principia philosophiae antiquissimae et recentissimae
Assigned by 1 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only
- Written
- written c. 1670s, published 1690
- Form
- Treatise
- Language
- Latin
- Length
- Short · 90 ppunder 120 pages
- Difficulty
- Difficult4 of 5 for a first-year reader
We recommendThe Principles of the Most Ancient and Modern Philosophy, translated by Allison P. Coudert and Taylor CorseCambridge University Press, 1996The standard modern translation, in the Cambridge Texts in the History of Philosophy series, with an introduction on Conway's sources.
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A short metaphysical treatise written in English in the 1670s, surviving only in the Latin translation published anonymously in Amsterdam in 1690 and retranslated into English in 1692. Conway argues that there are three kinds of being, God, Christ as mediator, and creatures, and that all created things are one substance, a spirit-body continuum in which everything is alive and capable of rising or sinking in perfection. She rejects Descartes's dead matter, Hobbes's materialism and Spinoza's single substance, and treats suffering as purgative and restorative.
No reading guide yet
The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns The Principles of the Most Ancient and Modern Philosophy are verified against each program's published list.
What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.
