Conway/Descartes views of God, Soul, and Body

1. Shekela Leggett
April 20, 2015
PHIL 302 – Research project
Conway versus Descartes: God,
Soul, and Body

2. Lady Anne Conway’s views
 God
 Pure Substance
 Creator and maker of all things visible and invisible
 God created with a desire for the good
 God exist outside of time
 Soul
 Second most important substances after God
 Better than the body
 The soul feels bodily pain
 Body
 Exist as a dark and gross or corporeal spirit
 Difference between body and soul: body is nothing fixed and
condensed spirit; and spirit is nothing but volatile body or
body made subtle”

3. René Descartes’s views
 God
 Supremely perfect substance – God is his own existence
 God is not corporeal and Descartes is certain that God is
not a body
 Cannot be broken down
 Humans are clearly born with the knowledge of God
 Mind – Body Interaction
 The mind as a “thinking, non-extended thing” and the body
as a “extended, non –thinking thing”
 Mind cannot be understood to be shaped or in motion, nor
can a body understand or sense anything
 Mind an independent substance that helps the body
function

4. Comparison
Conway’s View Descartes’ View
 Acknowledges that
God is a perfect being
who created visible
and invisible things
 Soul and body one
substance that works
together.
 The soul feels bodily
pain
 There is a cause for
everything so he
knows that God exist
 Mind and body
interaction as two
completely different
substances that does
not need each other to
exist.
 the body feels pain,
not the soul

5. Conclusion
 Conway’s three elements shows how there is a
harmonious connection between God, the soul
and the body. God who created us; by creating a
body and given life into our body and providing
oversight amongst our lives. He created the body
the dust that was created when he established
the world. All factors that went into creating the
world were all done by God’s power. Human
beings are made from all the factors of the world
and of God, himself.
 Descartes choices to see God and the Mind –
body Interaction as two elements. There only a
connection between the mind and body.

6. Work Cited
 Conway, Anne, Allison Coudert, and Taylor Corse. The Principles of the Most
Ancient and Modern Philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1996. Print.
 Derksen, Louise D. "20th WCP: Anne Conway’s Critique of Cartesian Dualism."
20th WCP: Anne Conway’s Critique of Cartesian Dualism. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr.
2015. <https://www.bu.edu/wcp/Papers/Onto/OntoDerk.htm>.
 Descartes, René. The Philosophical Writings of Descartes, Volume II. Trans.
John Cottingham, Robert Stoothoff, and Dugald Murdoch. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1984.
 Duran, Jane. Eight Women Philosophers: Theory, Politics, and Feminism.
Urbana: U of Illinois, 2006. Print.
 Holy Bible: King James. Goodyear, AZ: G.E.M. Pub., 2001. Print.
 Hutton, Sarah. Anne Conway : A Woman Philosopher. n.p.: Cambridge, UK ;
New York : Cambridge University Press, 2004., 2004. University of Mississippi
Libraries Catalog. Web. 20 Apr. 2015.
 Lascano, Marcy P. "Anne Conway: Bodies In The Spiritual World." Philosophy
Compass 8.4 (2013): 327-336. Philosopher's Index. Web. 19 Apr. 2015.
 Rodriguez, Diana. "Why Do We Feel Pain?" EverydayHealth.com. N.p., n.d.
Web. 20 Apr. 2015. <http://www.everydayhealth.com/pain-management/how-
pain-works.aspx>.
 SCHROEDER, STEVEN. "Anne Conway's Place: A Map of Leibniz." The Pluralist
2007: 77. JSTOR Journals. Web. 20 Apr. 2015.
 Skirry, Justin. "Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy." Internet Encyclopedia of
Philosophy. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2015. <http://www.iep.utm.edu/descmind/>.