Being

2020 ◽  
pp. 16-74
Author(s):  
José Filipe Silva
Keyword(s):  
Final Section ◽  
Natural Philosophy ◽  
Human Soul

The chapter is divided into three main sections covering Kilwardby’s work on natural philosophy. The chapter starts with the basic issues of composition of corporeal substances and proceeds to consider the question of the nature of composition (versus simplicity) of the human soul. It also attempts to understand Kilwardby’s philosophical commitments underlying his involvement in the Oxford Prohibitions of 1277. Particular attention is paid to the notion of matter and simplicity that offers cues to the identification of the view(s) Kilwardby may be targeting in this event. In this chapter, I also show the nature of the events surrounding the 1277 Oxford Prohibitions in such a way that it makes clear that Kilwardby was not and could not be acting alone or even at his own initiative. Rather, the claim is that he was probably spearheading a philosophical and theological movement of opposition to certain interpretations of Aristotelian ideas, especially in natural philosophy. The final section of the chapter offers Kilwardby’s account of the nature of celestial change and the relation between celestial motion and time.

Reading Books in Natural Philosophy: How Conrad Gessner‘s Commentary on De Anima (1563) was Annotated and Interpreted

2017 ◽  
Vol 93 (2) ◽  
pp. 69-89
Author(s):  
Anja-Silvia Goeing
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Natural Philosophy ◽  
Human Soul ◽  
De Anima ◽  
Preventive Healthcare ◽  
Modern Natural ◽  
The World ◽  
The One ◽  
Object Of Study

Conrad Gessner (1516–65) was town physician and lecturer at the Zwinglian reformed lectorium in Zurich. His approach towards the world and mankind was centred on his preoccupation with the human soul, an object of study that had challenged classical writers such as Aristotle and Galen, and which remained as important in post-Reformation debate. Writing commentaries on Aristotles De Anima (On the Soul) was part of early-modern natural philosophy education at university and formed the preparatory step for studying medicine. This article uses the case study of Gessners commentary on De Anima (1563) to explore how Gessners readers prioritised De Animas information. Gessners intention was to provide the students of philosophy and medicine with the most current and comprehensive thinking. His readers responses raise questions about evolving discussions in natural philosophy and medicine that concerned the foundations of preventive healthcare on the one hand, and of anatomically specified pathological medicine on the other, and Gessners part in helping these develop.

Spirited Psychology and Civic Temperament in the Statesman

2021 ◽  
pp. 231-252
Author(s):  
Josh Wilburn
Keyword(s):  
Political Psychology ◽  
Final Section ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Human Soul ◽  
The Social ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Primary Problem

Chapter 9 argues that the Statesman characterizes the task of the politician as one that prominently requires attention to distinctively spirited aspects of the human soul. According to the dialogue’s final section, the primary problem of politics is that of producing harmony between, or “weaving” together, two main types of citizens that naturally tend toward conflict with one another: the “courageous” and the “moderate.” This chapter argues that the Statesman’s treatment of civic unity is largely a discussion of spirited political psychology: the “courageous” citizens incline toward behavior associated with the aggressive side of thumos, while the “moderate” tend toward behavior associated with its gentle side. Moreover, this treatment is set up earlier in the dialogue through the Myth of Cronus, which is designed to expose the inadequacy of conceptions of politics that ignore the social desires and emotions of human beings that are most relevant to politics.

‘Ac si ignis elementaris ibi arderet’: Richard Rolle’s Elemental Love

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean Abbott
Keyword(s):  
Natural Philosophy ◽  
Physical World ◽  
The Other ◽  
Natural Phenomena ◽  
Human Soul ◽  
God's Love ◽  
Physical Elements ◽  
Fourth Member

Abstract The ‘sensuous’ imagery of Richard Rolle’s Incendium Amoris is typically regarded as spiritual metaphor—albeit a very material-seeming one. However, the trio of spiritual sensations Rolle explores at length in this work (fervor, dulcor, and canor) has a more precise, systematic connection with the physical world via the theory of the four terrestrial elements—a cornerstone of medieval natural philosophy. Through his imagery and descriptions, as well as his own reported actions and reactions, Rolle sets up the burning of fervor as a spiritual mirror of physical fire, the breath of canor as air, and the flowing sweetness of dulcor as water. The fourth member of this elemental system, representing earth, is the human soul that experiences one or more of the other elements of God’s love. The resemblance between these spiritual and physical elements is so pervasive, and Incendium exploits it so effectively, that Rolle must carefully and repeatedly specify that they are not, in fact, the same thing. Describing the ineffable through these concrete natural phenomena offers a useful framework for understanding a complex spiritual concept; however, through the idea that elements can transform into one another, it also offers a way of conceptualizing how the devout soul may be fully enveloped in God’s elemental love.

"Creeping Spatiality": The Location of Nous in Plotinus' Universe

Phronesis ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 315-334 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
Final Section ◽  
Natural Philosophy ◽  
World View ◽  
Spatial Language ◽  
Prime Mover ◽  
The Third ◽  
Spatial Sense ◽  
The World

AbstractThere is a well-known tension in Plotinus' thought regarding the location of the intelligible region. He appears to make three mutually incompatible claims about it: (1) it is everywhere; (2) it is nowhere; and (3) it borders on the heavens, where the third claim is associated with Plotinus' affection for cosmic religion. Traditionally, although scholars have found a reasonable way to make sense of the compatibility of the first two claims, they have sought to relieve the tension generated by (3) by both downplaying the importance of cosmic religion to Plotinus and reinterpreting his spatial language metaphorically. In this paper I argue that both of these maneuvers are unsatisfactory. Rather, it is possible to reconcile Plotinus' metaphysics with the world-view of cosmic religion (CR world-view), i.e., to retain the spatial sense of Plotinus' language without making his metaphysics incoherent.In the first part of this paper, I show that cosmic religion is not just an awkward appendage to Plotinus' metaphysics. After explaining what cosmic religion involves, I argue that the CR world-view is in fact central to his natural philosophy. Then, I turn to the problem of the compatibility between cosmic religion and Plotinus' thought. By carefully considering how Aristotle's Prime Mover is present to his universe, I show how we can make claims (2) and (3) compatible for Plotinus. Then, I argue that Plotinus' own account of the omnipresence of soul and its powers' actualizations in particular locations provides a parallel to the problem of the compatibility between (1) and (3), and further that these two accounts can be combined to resolve completely the tension between the CR world-view and Plotinus' metaphysics. In the final section, I discuss the implications this has for our understanding of the soul's ascent and descent.

The Posidonian Argument

2021 ◽  
pp. 221-260
Author(s):  
Eric Schliesser
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Final Section ◽  
Scientific Practice ◽  
Early Modern Period ◽  
Prima Facie ◽  
Design Argument ◽  
Modern Period ◽  
Final Causes

*In this chapter I discuss the reception of a design argument by Cicero in the works of Holbach and Voltaire. This argument was directed against both the system of chance and the system of necessity. The chapter distinguishes three interpretations of this argument: (1) a prima facie interpretation; (2) a ‘neglected’ interpretation and (3) a ‘transcendental interpretation.’ It shows that in the early modern period Cicero’s argument was very widely discussed and its significance was not merely as a design argument; it connected scientific practice, even progress in science, to providential final causes. To show this I focus on Boyle and Locke before turning to Newton. In the final section, I return to Voltaire’s response to Holbach and show how Voltaire adapts the argument and uses Newton.

The “Rowdy” Teenagers

2019 ◽  
pp. 166-203
Author(s):  
Leonardo Cardoso
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Final Section ◽  
Public Spaces ◽  
Family Values ◽  
Public Security ◽  
Youth Group ◽  
Good Taste

In this chapter, I focus on a youth group that since the mid-2000s has been reshuffling public spaces. The event examined here takes place in the city’s vast poor peripheries. The first part of the chapter locates music within sound-politics. I consider the spread of street parties known as “pancadões,” or “big thumps,” a term that alludes to the loudness. By following the pancadão controversy, I am interested in understanding the disposition of specific groups as they try to either maintain or eliminate this sound from the streets. In the final section, we are going to examine the actors deployed by groups interested in disarticulating the pancadão in the name of public security, good taste, family values, and quality of life.

Wesley's Sanctification Narrative: A Tool for Understanding the Holy Spirit's Work in a More Physical Soul

Pneuma ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 225-241
Author(s):  
Paul Shrier ◽  
Cahleen Shrier
Keyword(s):  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Brain Function ◽  
Final Section ◽  
Mirror Neuron ◽  
Human Soul ◽  
The Past ◽  
Means Of Grace ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
Christian Understanding ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractRapid advances in neuroscience during the past fifteen years require Christians to rethink traditional understandings of the human soul, sin, salvation, and sanctification. John Wesley's understanding of means of grace and his theology of the Holy Spirit provide tools to integrate our understanding of the soul and sanctification with current neuroscience. First, a new, more physical, Christian understanding of the soul is suggested. Then Wesley's theology of sanctification through acts of mercy is explained and related to current concepts of empathy. The relationship between empathy and sanctification, as understood by Wesley, is then compared with new neurological findings about human mirror neuron systems that are prerequisite for empathizing with others. The final section suggests a new sanctification narrative based on the interactions of the Holy Spirit, mirror neuron systems, and empathy, and then makes recommendations for Christian actions based on the correlation of brain function and operations of the Holy Spirit.

scholarly journals The Illusion of Depth of Understanding in Science

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petri Ylikoski
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
Final Section ◽  
Scientific Research ◽  
Scientific Understanding ◽  
Ordinary People ◽  
Scientific Cognition ◽  
Substantial Role ◽  
Main Thesis ◽  
Psychological Experiments

Philosophers of science have a long tradition of making a connection between explanation and understanding, but only lately have they started to give the latter notion a substantial role in their theories. In this chapter I will employ a well-known scientific research heuristic of studying how something works by focusing on circumstances in which it does not work. Rather than trying to describe what scientific understanding would ideally look like, I will try to learn something about it by looking at mundane cases where understanding is partly illusory. The main thesis of this paper will be the following: scientists are prone to the illusion of depth of understanding (IDU), and as a consequence, they sometimes overestimate the detail, coherence, and depth of their understanding. I will start my argument by presenting an analysis of the notion of understanding and its relation to a sense of understanding. In order to make plausible the claim that these are often disconnected, I will describe an interesting series of psychological experiments by Frank Keil and co-authors. These experiments suggest that ordinary people routinely overestimate the depth of their understanding. In Section 3, I will argue that we should take seriously the possibility that scientific cognition is also affected by IDU. Section 4 will spell out some possible causes of explanatory illusions in science. In the final section, I will discuss how scientific explanatory practices could be improved and how the philosophy of science might be able to contribute to this process.

Paul of Venice (1369/72–1429)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
E.J. Ashworth
Keyword(s):  
Medical Students ◽  
Fifteenth Century ◽  
Natural Philosophy ◽  
Human Soul ◽  
Undergraduate Programme ◽  
Important Position ◽  
Theological Training

Like other teachers in fifteenth-century Italian universities, Paul of Venice focused on logic and natural philosophy in an undergraduate programme directed toward the education of medical students. Despite Paul’s theological training and important position in the order of Augustinian friars, nearly all his works are non-theological. His prolific writings popularized the achievements of Oxford logic and Parisian physics in a framework derived from Aristotle and Averroes. As a philosopher he is best known for his Averroist position on the human soul, and for his moderate realism with respect to universals.

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