Abstract
The theory of a soul of the world (ψυχὴ τοῦ κόσμου, anima mundi) is almost as ancient as European philosophy itself. As far as is known, Plato conceived of it first in Timaios 34 b 3–37 c 5 (but he returned to it also in Book 10 of the Laws, 896 d 10–898 c 8). The doctrine of the world soul – not endorsed by Aristotle except perhaps indirectly by implication of his theory of the active intellect (cf. De anima Γ 5, 430 a 10–25, etc.) – then received great philosophical emphasis in the Stoic and neo-Platonic schools, which essentially transformed it according to their respective metaphysical intuitions. In order to understand, more distinctly, the philosophical content of the concept of a soul of the world, we begin our enquiry with a brief presentation and analysis of Plato’s and, respectively, Plotinus’ concepts of the world soul. This will also help us see the specificity of the early modern concept of the Weltseele.
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Notes
- 1.
On the Latin Stoic concept of a soul of the world, see pp. 217–219 (Seneca on the anima mundi).
- 2.
“ὀμμάτων τε γὰρ ἐπεδεῖτο οὐδὲν, ὁρατὸν γὰρ οὐδὲν ὑπελείπετο ἔξωθεν, οὐδ’ἀκοῆς, οὐδὲ γὰρ ἀκουστόν• πνεῦμα τε οὐκ ἦν περιεστὸς δεόμενον ἀναπνοῆς, οὐδ’αὖ τινος ἐπιδεὲς ἦν ὀργάνου σχεῖν ᾧ τὴν μὲν εἰς ἑαυτὸ τροφὴν δέξοιτο, τὴν δὲ πρότερον ἐξικμασμένην ἀποπέμψοι πάλιν”
- 3.
Cf. V/1:2.
- 4.
Cf. IV/4:32.
- 5.
Cf. IV/9:5, 3–4. – Cf. also the continuation of the passage, where Plotinus asserts that Soul is “…ἱκανὴ γὰρ πᾶσι παρασχεῖν ἑαυτὴν καὶ μένειν μία• δύναται γὰρ εἰς πάντα ἅμα 〈scil. παρασχεῖν ἑαυτὴν,〉 καὶ ἑκάστου οὐκ ἀποτέτμηται πάντη• τὸ αὐτὸ οὖν ἐν πολλοῖς.” (ibid., 4–7)
- 6.
On Plotinus’ theory of the world soul, see also Section 5 of Chapter 3 below.
- 7.
The only exception seems to be Fénelon, who explicitly rejects the hypothesis of the world soul in its primary meaning, but applies the term ‘âme du monde’ to God in a metaphorical sense (Traité de l’existence de Dieu, 1763; see Section 2 of Chapter 4).
- 8.
As M. Frank says, “Üblicherweise versteht man darunter die philosophisch-literarische Produktion des Kreises von Freunden, die sich zwischen 1796 und 1800 in Berlin und/oder Jena zusammenfanden und deren Mittelpunkt das Haus der Brüder Schlegel in Jena werden sollte: also Autor(inn)en wie Wackenroder und Tieck, Novalis und Schleiermacher, Freidrich und Wilhelm Schlegel, Caroline und Dorothea Schlegel” (Frank, p. 41).
- 9.
On especially the young Schelling’s standing to the Frühromantik strictly taken, see Frank, lectures 1, 15, and 26.
- 10.
Alexander Pope: An Essay on Man, Epistle IV, line 332 (Elwin et al. eds., vol. II., p. 453; see Section 13 of Chapter 7).
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Vassányi, M. (2011). Introduction. In: Anima Mundi: The Rise of the World Soul Theory in Modern German Philosophy. International Archives of the History of Ideas / Archives internationales d'histoire des idées, vol 202. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-8796-6_1
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