APPENDIX Z7: Anima mundi*
Published on 24 Jun 2016 at 12:44 pm.
No Comments.
Filed under Uncategorized.
APPENDIX Z7:
Anima mundi*
The world soul (Greek: ψυχή κόσμου, Latin: Anima mundi)
has been a component of several systems of
thought.
thought.
Its proponents claim that it permeates the cosmos
and
and
animates all matter, just
as the soul animates the human
as the soul animates the human
body. The idea originated
with Plato and was an important
with Plato and was an important
component of most Neoplatonic systems:
Therefore, we may
consequently state that: this
consequently state that: this
world is indeed a living being endowed with a
soul and intelligence… a single visible living
entity
entity
containing all other living entities, which by
their
their
nature are all related.
[1]
The Stoics believed it to be the only vital force in
the
the
universe. It also features in systems of eastern
philosophy
philosophy
in the Brahman-Atman of Hinduism, and in the School
of
of
Yin-Yang, Taoism, and Neo-Confucianism as qi.
1
Plato, Timaeus, 29/30; 4th century BCE
*Wikipedia Online, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anima_mundi (accessed February 1, 2011)
