I have been personally engaged with questions about God’s existence, the relationship between science and faith, and other concerns quite typical of contemporary philosophy of religion as far back as high school. But those questions sent me down a long philosophical rabbit hole that has led me to my current avenue of research on a certain 16th-century nun, mystic, and reformer of the Carmelite order – Teresa of Ávila.

I was drawn to Teresa for many reasons. First, I had been researching Descartes, and there were some recent scholarly suggestions that he had utilized Teresa as source material for the drafting of his Meditations. (1) It also seemed that Teresa had garnered a great deal of attention outside of philosophical circles, and I was curious to see whether there were substantive philosophical themes in her work so as to bring her into the philosophical fold a bit more. (2) But when I began to read Teresa, I was introduced to what was for me a completely foreign approach to introspection. In short, Teresa develops a nuanced method for becoming better acquainted with oneself and with God.

Teresa’s life is the subject of great scholarly attention, given that one of her most celebrated works is her autobiography (The Book of Her Life), which was written for the review of the Inquisition in a style akin to Augustine’s Confessions. (3) Teresa was born in 1515 into a relatively well-off Spanish family. As a young child, she exemplified great religious fervor. While only seven, she attempted to run away with her brother to the “land of the Moors” in order to be killed and achieve martyrdom. When their plot was discovered, Teresa settled on building hermitages in her family’s garden. As Teresa moved into her teenage years, her religious impulses were obfuscated. By her own account, she became engaged in problematic relations that led her father to send her to an Augustinian convent to receive some education and keep her out of trouble. While there, Teresa was initially resistant to the idea of becoming a nun, but she ultimately decided to join the Carmelite order. Teresa soon fell ill.

Teresa’s illness was so serious that she was sent home from the convent, and was passed between her family’s homes as they sought a remedy. During these travels, Teresa became acquainted with one of her uncles who had an affinity for spiritual literature. It was during one of her stays with him that she was introduced to the work of Francisco de Osuna, who proved to influence Teresa greatly. Though she had always been an avid reader, Teresa began to dive headlong into spiritual literature. Yet, it appeared the illness had gotten the better of her…..