Thomas, Emily (2020) 'Anne Conway as a Priority Monist : a reply to Gordon-Roth.', Journal of the American Philosophical Association., 6 (3). pp. 275-284.
Abstract
For early modern metaphysician Anne Conway, the world comprises creatures. In some sense, Conway is a monist about creatures: all creatures are one. Yet, as Jessica Gordon-Roth (2018) has astutely pointed out, that monism can be understood in very different ways. One might read Conway as an ‘existence pluralist’: creatures are all composed of the same type of substance, but many substances exist. Alternatively, one might read Conway as an ‘existence monist’: there is only one created substance. Gordon-Roth has done the scholarship a great favor by illuminating these issues in Conway. However, this article takes issue with Gordon-Roth's further view that Conway ‘oscillates’ between the extremes of existence pluralism and monism. In its place, I argue we should read Conway as a priority monist: the whole of creation is ontologically prior to its parts.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Full text: | (AM) Accepted Manuscript Download PDF (150Kb) |
| Status: | Peer-reviewed |
| Publisher Web site: | https://doi.org/10.1017/apa.2019.1 |
| Publisher statement: | This article will be published in a revised form in Journal of the American Philosophical Association. This version is free to view and download for private research and study only. Not for re-distribution, re-sale or use in derivative works. © American Philosophical Association 2018. |
| Date accepted: | 04 January 2019 |
| Date deposited: | 09 January 2019 |
| Date of first online publication: | 20 January 2020 |
| Date first made open access: | 01 February 2019 |
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