Abstract
Abstract
This study offers a philosophical reinterpretation of
Arboleda de los enfermos
, Teresa de Cartagena’s first treatise. While Cartagena denies the philosophical nature of her work, the text approaches key philosophical themes and problems such as evil, the mind-body problem, moral intellectualism, and the ethical meaning of suffering. Drawing from Christian and classical traditions, Cartagena redefines illness not as mere affliction but as a path to ethical transformation through her emphasis on virtues like humility and patience. Besides, her imagined “convent of suffering” serves as a metaphor for a universal community bound by shared pain and virtue. This paper argues that Cartagena’s work constitutes a form of Christian philosophy and demands a revision of this cultural tradition.