World Soul: A History - Couverture souple

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 0190913436 ISBN 13 : 9780190913434

Editeur : Oxford University Press Inc, 2021

Synopsis

Many philosophers and scientists over the course of history have held that the world is alive. It has a soul, which governs it and binds it together. This suggestion, once so wide-spread, may strike many of us today as strange and antiquated--in fact, there are few other concepts that, on their face, so capture the sheer distance between us and our philosophical inheritance. But the idea of a world soul has held so strong a grip upon philosophers' imaginations for over 2,000 years, that it continues to underpin and even structure how we conceive of time and space.

The concept of the world soul is difficult to understand in large part because over the course of history it has been invoked to very different ends and within the frameworks of very different ontologies and philosophical systems, with varying concepts of the world soul emerging as a result. This volume brings together eleven chapters by leading philosophers in their respective fields that collectively explore the various ways in which this concept has been understood and employed, covering the following philosophical areas: Platonism, Stoicism, Medieval, Indian or Vedântic, Kabbalah, Renaissance, Early Modern, German Romanticism, German Idealism, American Transcendentalism, and contemporary quantum mechanics and panpsychism theories. In addition, short reflections illuminate the impact the concept of the world soul has had on a small selection of areas outside of philosophy, such as harmony, the biological concept of spontaneous generation, Henry Purcell, psychoanalysis, and Gaia theories.

A propos du livre

À propos de l'auteur

James Wilberding is Professor of Ancient and Contemporary Philosophy at the Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany. His main areas of research concern Plato and the history of Platonism, especially in its intersection with medicine and the natural sciences. His publications include Forms, Souls and Embryos: Neoplatonists on Human Reproduction (Routledge, 2016) and Plotinus' Cosmology (Oxford University Press, 2006).

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Oxford University Press Inc
• Date d'édition: 2021
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0190913436
• ISBN 13: 9780190913434
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 408
• Éditeur: Wilberding James
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: Ufficio Anagrafiche Messaggerie; ufficio.anagrafiche@meli.it; ; Via Verdi, 8; Assago Milano; 20090; Italie