The Philosophy of Anne Conway

God, Creation and the Nature of Time

Jonathan Head

• Editorial: Bloomsbury Academic
• Año: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781350134546
• Edición: 1
• Categoría: Philosophy
• Categoría: Modern Philosophy

The early modern philosopher Anne Conway offers a remarkable synthesis of ideas from differing philosophical traditions that deserve our attention today. Exploring all of the major aspects of Conway's thought, this book presents a valuable guide to her contribution to the history of philosophy. Through a close reading of her central text, Principles of the Most Ancient and Modern Philosophy (1690), it considers her intellectual context and addresses some of the outstanding interpretive issues concerning her philosophy. Contrasting her position with that of contemporaries such as Henry More, Franciscus Mercurius van Helmont and George Keith, it examines her critique of the prominent philosophical schools of the time, including Cartesian dualism and Hobbesian materialism. From her accounts of dualism, time and God to the often overlooked elements of her work such as her theory of freedom and salvation, The Philosophy of Anne Conway illuminates the ideas and legacy of an important early-modern woman philosopher.

1

The inner light

We begin our examination of Conway’s philosophy with a consideration of its epistemological underpinnings. Throughout the Principia, Conway makes a number of claims about the nature of God, Christ, the world and the soul. However, the question of just how Conway knows these things is one left largely unanswered in the text. Much of what she claims could, perhaps, be reasonably deduced from the statement concerning God’s nature that begins the book, but that still leaves the question of what justifies this starting point from an epistemological perspective. In order to answer this question, we need to look at Conway’s intellectual context: in particular, we will examine the account of divine illumination suggested by her philosophical mentor, Henry More, as well as the doctrine of ‘inner light’ that was prevalent in the religious sect that she identified herself with during the period of the writing of the Principia, namely, the Quakers (known officially as the Religious Society of Friends).

I will argue that it is likely that More’s Platonic-inspired view that one could receive insight into God and the soul through divine illumination paves the way for a later acceptance of something like the Quaker notion of the inner light. In addition, on this basis, I will seek to explain why Conway might not have discussed epistemological matters in the notes that came to be the Principia. We will also see that it is likely that the doctrine of the inner light, due to its egalitarian implications, played a major role in provoking Conway’s interest in Quakerism. As such, this chapter will help to clarify the impact of More’s philosophy upon the metaphysical system found in the Principia, as well as giving some insight into why Conway may have been drawn to the Quakers in her later life. We will also start exploring some of the controversies surrounding the early Quaker community, including their perceived threat to the political powers of the time, including the Church, and the way in which this shaped the intellectual response to early Quaker theology, particularly with regard to their doctrine of the inner light. Some of the implications of this implicit epistemology for our understanding of other important aspects of her philosophy, particularly her Christology and theory of salvation, will be explored later in Chapter 4.

God, the ‘inner light’ and the Quakers

The Principia begins with a simple statement about the nature of God: ‘God is spirit, light, and life, infinitely wise, good, just, strong, all-knowing, all-present, all-powerful, the creator and maker of all things visible and invisible’ (1.1; 9). This list of divine attributes is pretty unremarkable in one sense, as these are attributes that all theists would agree to. However, there is some oddity about this list, particularly regarding the prominent position of ‘spirit, light, and life’, but we will leave this to one side until the next chapter. The list is also remarkable because it is the founding statement of Conway’s philosophy: many of the philosophical and theological claims to come will be established on the basis of this list of divine attributes. We will see many arguments of the form ‘God has x attribute, so y must be true’, be it establishing conclusions about God or the universe he created.

However, before we start exploring the outlines of Conway’s metaphysical system, we may wonder just how Conway thinks she knows all these things about God. There are no arguments offered for God’s existence or for attributing these attributes to God. Conway simply assumes that God exists and has all these attributes, and the rest of her philosophy follows from this. Though Conway never explicitly tells us how we are supposed to know such things about God, there are hints that we can perhaps pick up on in the Principia as to what epistemological assumptions are being made here. We can also look to Conway’s intellectual context for some clues: if we know that Conway was influenced by certain figures and traditions, and perhaps even influenced them in turn, then exploring the religious epistemologies of these thinkers may help us to detect the underlying assumptions here.

As we saw in the previous chapter, the Principia was written at a time in Conway’s life that followed a fundamental change in her religious viewpoint. From brief remarks in her will and correspondence, it seems that Conway believes that, through the intercession of God and her experience of suffering, she is able to come to a deeper religious understanding beyond the doctrinal confines of the established Church. As we saw earlier, Henry More cryptically refers to the fruits of Conway’s religious reflection as ‘Supernatural Comforts and Refreshments’ and ‘strange Pre-visions of things future’ (Ward 2000: 126). We find a truly radical religious philosophy in the Principia and given the dating of the text, it seems likely that the arguments and ideas contained within are at least partly inspired by Conway’s deeply felt religious experiences, inspired by the emphasis on immediate experience found in the religious community that she now identified with, namely, Quakerism.

We will be helped, then, by investigating the religious epistemology of the early Quakers. As noted previously, the Principia (or at least the notes that were edited to form this text) was almost certainly written in the late 1670s, by which time Conway had seemingly become part of this radical religious sect.¹ We know that Conway discussed issues related to religious epistemology with leading Quakers around this time. In a letter to Conway from William Penn dated 17 February 1675, we find an outlining of some of the key claims that Quakers were making with regard to knowledge of the divine: ‘My friend, we preach not our selves, but the light of Christ in the conscience, which is gods faithful and true witness… So dear friend, that thou mayst retire thy mind to that tender spirit of truth which god hath sent into our hearts to convince us of sin, of righteousness, of judgement’ (L 402).

In the same letter, Penn speaks of this divine ‘inspiration’ as ‘the true foundation of all right knowledge, hope, faith’ (L 402). Penn is writing here of the Quaker doctrine of the ‘inner light’ as a source of divine revelation, thus a foundation of reliable, even infallible, knowledge about God, the soul and the world around you.

It is important to note at this point that it is very difficult to talk about the theological commitments of the early Quakers with any degree of exactitude. Given the disparate nature of the Quaker community at the time, the fact that there is no founding text that all Quakers looked to for their doctrinal commitments, that very few Quakers published any theological texts and that those that did write such works often made contradictory claims, we are left in a difficult position in determining any definite ‘early Quaker theology’, and this includes the doctrine of the inner light that I discuss here. In addition, as a community under attack from a powerful religious establishment, much of the Quaker writing of this period is defensive in tone, emphasizing that they do not deny certain key aspects of Christian thought, rather than explaining more positively precisely where they may in fact diverge from strict Anglican orthodoxy.²

However, there are broad theological strokes across Quakerism that we can trace from this period, and we can focus on the theologies of those figures (such as William Penn and George Keith) that we know Conway had contact with around the time of the writing of the Principia, particularly relating to the notion of the ‘inner light’. The underlying theological commitments for the ‘inner light’ were not settled, and often, for example, involved different persons of the Trinity. Fouke notes this confusion, situating it in the practical context of a desire to promote a confrontational crisis of faith in professed believers, at the expense of the need to formulate a clear, consistent theology: ‘The early Quakers were less interested in formulating a clear theology than in bringing individuals to a moral and religious crisis. Seldom careful to develop their thought with an eye towards Trinitarian distinctions or a clear Christology, the “Inner Light” was various described as the Christ within every person, an impersonal force, the Holy Spirit, or the Father’ (1997: 136). However, despite the theological confusion, the general features of the inner light were largely uncontested, based around the claim that there is an aspect of each individual that can participate in the divine, and such participation can bring insight not only into the nature of God, but also into the moral health of the individual and wider society.

The notion of the inner light places emphasis upon the impact of potential self-knowledge that can be garnered by an individual, apart from the teachings of the Church. With the help of the divine, we are able to see our depravity in much greater focus than we have before, and the shock of such knowledge is able to bring about a radical transformation towards true piety on the part of the individual. We are brought to a moment of crisis, in which we feel despair at the depth of our sinful depravity, the prospect of God’s judgement upon us and hope for a purified individual and society. In the Quaker literature of the time, the experience of the inner light is described as bringing a realization that first provokes great terror and despair at the state of our sinful nature, followed by a positive transformation into a purified individual at one with God and Christ.

These two stages are clearly outlined in an autobiographical text by Francis Howgill (1618–69), one of the earliest prominent Quakers. Of the first stage, he writes,

I was ignorant what the first principle of true religion was: but as I turned my mind within to the light of Jesus Christ wherewith I was enlightened … I saw it was the true and faithful witness of Christ Jesus, and then my eyes was opened, and all things was brought to remembrance that ever I had done … [The] dreadful power of the Lord fell upon me, plague and pestilence, and famine, and earthquake, and fear, and terror, for the sights that I saw with my eyes … I would have run away to have hid my fear, but nothing but weeping and gnashing of teeth, and sorrow, and terror, and I roared out for the disquietness of my heart.

(1656: 11f.)

The reference to ‘weeping and gnashing of teeth’ is an allusion to the eschatological explanation given for the parable of the sower in Matthew 13. In this passage, Jesus describes the fate of those who have fallen into sin: ‘The Son of Man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth’ (Matthew 13: 41–2).³ Howgill’s reference here to a key eschatological Gospel passage illustrates the devastating significance of the transformation that takes place when the inner light is recognized within the individual and reflects the understanding that the Quaker community had at the time of their own world-changing significance, as bringing the Kingdom of God to earth.

After this deep despair and terror at the recognition of the depths of his sinful nature, Howgill then goes on to describe the feelings he then experienced in the acceptance of the divine judgement upon him, and the concomitant realization of the possibility of his radical purification and transformation:

In all that I ever did, I saw that it was in the accursed nature, and then something in me cried, Just and true is his judgement, my mouth was stopped, something rejoiced… and as I did give up all to the Judgement, the captive came forth out of prison and rejoiced, and my heart was filled with joy… and the new man was made.

(1656: 12f.)

In texts such as these, early Quakers attempted to describe their own apparent experiences of the inner light, involving both knowledge of God and the sinful nature of the individual, as well as a deep transformation of one’s character. It is likely that Conway will have gone through similar experiences as she joined the Quaker community.

Tensions with the church and women writers

The notion of the inner light soon brought the early Quaker community into conflict with the established Church. What was particularly worrying for the religious establishment of the time was the claim that the inner light brought reliable insight into the divine to the individual, apart from the teachings of the Church and the reading of scripture. The Quakers departed from a general Protestant emphasis on the Bible as having primary doctrinal authority, with the claim that scripture has to be approached within the more fundamental and significant perspective of the inner light. The Quaker historian Adrian Davies explains that, in the view of the Quakers of the time,

The indwelling light displaced the Bible as the cornerstone of the Christian faith… The Friends did not dismiss the Bible as the source of authority; but they held that it possessed no superior authority which limited the inspiration of the indwelling light. They were convinced that the Spirit which guided them was the same as that which inspired those who wrote the original scriptures.

(2000: 17)

For the Quakers, the inner light held the doctrinal veto over the teachings of the Bible, whilst the Church would assert that apparent individual revelation should be measured against the yardstick of scripture and rejected if it departed too far from the revelation encapsulated in Biblical teachings.

As far as the Church was concerned, any notion that someone could come to theological knowledge without any guidance from the clergy or from scripture was very dangerous, leading to superstitious practices, religious enthusiasm and the promulgation of heretical doctrines. If everyone could potentially come to religious truth without the aid of officially endorsed theological education and the guidance of clergy, then the necessity of even having an organized church (and certainly one with a strict hierarchy) would be greatly undermined. There was also something worrying, for the authorities, about the inherent egalitarianism of the doctrine: in principle, all individuals, regardless of class, background and gender, could receive the fruits of the inner light. Such a doctrine, surely, could only serve to dissolve the carefully constructed social structures that held society together and stopped matters from degenerating into chaos and anarchy. However, for someone who had second-class status at the time (including even a woman with such a high social position as Anne Conway), the inner light opened up their opportunities to engage in religious reflection, apart from the overbearing and constraining ecclesiastical authorities, who wished to hold to a strict set of doctrines and a formal liturgy.

Whilst the status of some women in England at the time was improving in some aspects, their role in organized religion was minimal: as Lloyd notes, in his study of early Quaker social history, ‘However intelligent and capable women might be in business, they were in church affairs “that simple and weak sex.” They had no share at all in the government of the church, they might not even meet together for prayer. “If she worships in assemblies,” wrote Bunyan, “her part is to hold her tongue, to learn in silence”’ (1950: 107). The egalitarian implications of the inner light were not fully reflected in the Quaker community of the time, but nevertheless they paved the way for the women of that community to play a more active role⁴ and express their own religious experiences and insights. The Quaker historian Christine Trevett explains that

[from] its inception Quakerism offered to women occasions of greater autonomy. Its teachings offered a rationale for what some women had known instinctively but had never acted upon and for some, Quakerism, itself born in a time of social and religious upheaval, allowed them to break through the bonds of ‘femininity’ so that by adopting the biblical (primarily male) prophetic role, they might transcend the very, womanly, self.

(1991: 41)

The Quakers claimed Biblical authority for their opening up of the religious hierarchy in this way, pointing to the Letter to the Galatians, in which Paul paints an unmistakable picture of an egalitarian religious community:

But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptised into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

(Galatians 3: 25–8)

Women have the same need as men to respond to the inner light, and such an opening was grasped by Conway and other women Quaker writers of the period as an opportunity to express what they saw as their own religious insights (though it is not always clear just how much autonomy they claimed for themselves in this process, for it is possible to see oneself as merely a passive vehicle for the revelation of the inner light⁵).

The egalitarian assumptions underlying the doctrine of the inner light had a decisive impact upon the literary life of the early Quaker community, particularly with regard to the contributions of women writers. Women Quakers were able to write much more broadly and with an entirely different tone than many other women authors of the time were able to, due to the recognized authority of the inner light acting with them. In a study of early Quaker literature, Catie Gill notes,

Female Quakers wrote and spoke from a position of connection to the godhead, and their sense of revelation was due, in large part, to the community’s method of writing about the spirit’s immediacy within the believer,...

Índice

• Cover
• Halftitle Page
• Title Page
• Dedication Page
• Contents 
• Preface
• Note on references
• Introduction: Anne Conway’s life and letters
• 1 The inner light
• 2 God, spirit and body
• 3 Creation and the infinity of time
• 4 God, Christ and Creature
• 5 Christ, salvation and the end of time
• 6 Freedom
• 7 The constitution of creatures
• Conclusion
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index
• Imprint