Abstract: Anne Conway (nee Anne Finch, 1631-1679), a less-known figure under Cambridge Platonism, is often labeled a spiritualist. In Conway’s picture, beings in the created world are spiritual because the creator God is pure spirit. Yet, God, as pure spirit, is incorporeal, immutable and timeless, while all created beings exist in the sequence of time, are mutable, and most importantly, corporeal or material. Given that Conway claims that creatures are spiritual and corporeal—and that these exist on a spectrum—it is just really unclear what she could mean by spirit. Besides, Conway uses some puzzling metaphors, such as light, subtle, and swift, to describe the creaturely spirits. I aim to decode the metaphors and investigate the conception of spirituality in her work The Principles of the Most Ancient and Modern Philosophy. With a clear understanding of what spirit means to Conway, we can better explain her metaphysical stance within early modern philosophy. 

Yining Wu bio: Yining Wu is a PhD candidate at Temple University (USA). She studies history of philosophy, especially in early modern philosophy and German idealism. She is currently working on her dissertation, investigating Anne Conway’s metaphysics and exploring the legacy of early modern female philosophers.