Three Modern Approaches on Imagination: Descartes, Spinoza, and Sor Juana

Abstract

Studies about Sor Juana and Modernity are relatively numerous today. The 1950s marked the beginning of a scholarly trend that emphasizes the alleged “modernity of Sor Juana”, particularly in relation to Cartesian thought. Sor Juana did not know the works of Descartes, nor did she read the philosophical works of Spinoza. However, her life and work exhibit a remarkable affinity with the philosophical spirit of Spinozism, rather than Cartesian philosophy. This article seeks to investigate the function of imagination as a via salutis in the works of Spinoza and Sor Juana, and to elucidate its significance in their respective philosophies.