The Long ConversationA timeline of world philosophy

Philosopher

Angélique Arnauld

1591–1661

Also known as Mère Angélique, Jacqueline Marie Arnauld

Reforming abbess of Port-Royal whose Jansenist Augustinianism defended women's rights to education, self-government and conscience.

Painting of a nun in a white habit with a red cross, seated with a book and rosary, a landscape behind
Oil portrait by Philippe de Champaigne, 17th century. Musée d’Évreux.Philippe de Champaigne · Public domain · See the original

Jacqueline Marie Arnauld was born in 1591 into a prominent family of lawyers and parliamentarians long hostile to the Jesuits. As Mère Angélique she reformed the convent of Port-Royal as its abbess, a centre of the Jansenist movement.

Long treated as a minor voice beside Antoine Arnauld and Blaise Pascal, she has recently been read by feminist scholars as an original Augustinian thinker. She died in 1661.

Key ideas

An incomprehensible God
Her account of God follows the negative way, stressing God’s incomprehensibility.
Virtue as grace
Her theory of virtue is thoroughly centred on God: even natural virtues such as patience flow from grace, and poverty and humility come first. Though she affirmed free will, her stress on human depravity leans towards theological determinism.
Women’s rights to learning and conscience
Shaped by her struggles with political and church authorities, she defended women’s rights to education, theological culture, self-government and fidelity to their own conscience.
Tradition
Western
Region
Port-Royal, France

Sources

  1. John J. Conley, Angélique Arnauld, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy