A Cosmos Without a Creator

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 9-42
Author(s):  
Pietro Daniel Omodeo ◽  

In the years after the first circulation of Sidereus Nuncius, Galileo’s Padua anti-Copernican colleague, the staunch Aristotelian philosopher, Cesare Cremonini, published a book on ‘traditional’ cosmology, Disputatio de coelo in tres partes divisa (Venice, 1613) which puzzled the Roman authorities of the Inquisition and the Index much more than any works on celestial novelties and ‘neo-Pythagorean’ astronomy. Cremonini’s disputation on the heavens has the form of an over-intricate comment of Aristotle’s conceptions, in the typi­cally argumentative style of Scholasticism. Nonetheless, it immediately raised the concern of Cardinal Bellarmin, the Pope and other Inquisitors. At a close reading, Cremonini’s interpretation of Aristotle’s cosmos proved radically anti- Christian. It represented a radicalization of Pomponazzian Alexandrism. In fact, Cremonini did not only circulate Aristotelian principles used by Pom­ponazzi to argue for the soul’s mortality (first, no thought is possible without imagination and the latter faculty is dependent on the body; secondly, all that is generated will eventually perish). He also wiped away all transcendence from the Aristotelian cosmos. In fact, he marginalized the function of the motive Intelligences by explaining heavenly motions through the action of animal-like inseparable souls although he did not erase nor reduced all Intelligences to only one, in accordance with Alexander. Also, he put at the center of Aristotle’s cosmos the idea of its eternity, a thesis which he explicitly connected with the rejection of the idea of God the Creator. Cremonini assumed that the univer­sal efficiens, that is the efficient cause of all motion and change in the world, is nothing but the first heaven. As a result of this radically naturalist reading of Aristotle, he banned God from the cosmos, reduced Him to the final cause of the world, and deprived Him of any efficiency and will. This essay on less ex­plored sources of Renaissance astronomical debates considers the institutional, cultural and religious setting of Cremonini’s teaching and conceptions. It as­sesses the reasons for his troubles with the religious authorities, and the politi­cal support he was granted by the Serenissima Republic of Venice inspite of the scandalous opinions he circulated as a university professor. My reconstruction of his views is based on the Disputatio de coelo of 1613 and later works, which are directly connected with cosmo-theological polemics with the religious au­thorities: his Apologia dictorum Aristotelis de quinta coeli substantia (1616) and the unpublished book De coeli efficientia, two manuscript copies of which are preserved in the libraries of Padua and Venice.

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 240-255 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Jonathon O’Donnell

‘Third wave’ neo-charismatic evangelical discourses of spiritual warfare envision the world as caught within a struggle between good and evil, in which demonic forces play an active role in shaping the lives of individuals, institutions, and nations. In contemporary American spiritual warfare discourse one demonic spirit has gained particular notoriety: the Jezebel spirit. Through a close reading of American spiritual warfare manuals, this article explores constructions of the Jezebel spirit and her place in third wave demonology. Constructed as a spiritual force reigning over an errant United States, the figure of Jezebel facilitates a discursive conflation of personal and social bodies in which the ‘present absences’ of ‘deviant’ (gendered, sexualised, racialised) bodies within the nation become figured as threatening to both national and spiritual survival. Drawing on poststructuralist, postcolonial, and queer theory, the article unpacks how Jezebel is constructed as a figure of feminised absence and multiplicity, whose ‘illegitimate’ possession of ‘deviant’ places and persons renders them as territories of absence that must be restored to normative presence through the reinscription of God’s will.


Author(s):  
Kenneth Clatterbaugh

The early moderns confronted an abundance of causes and types of causal explanations. From Aristotle through the Scholastics they had inherited the doctrine of the four causes, that is, depending upon context the material, formal, final, or efficient cause provides the proper explanation or answer to a ‘Why?’ question. From the Christianization of Aristotle's Unmoved Mover they had inherited the idea of God as creator of the universe. And to the creator role had been added the idea of providence whereby God in some sense ‘manages’ the world of mundane events. Aquinas had actually identified God as the efficient cause of all things.


2011 ◽  
Vol 18 ◽  
pp. 123
Author(s):  
David TORRIJOS CASTRILLEJO

Alexander of Aphrodisias understood the Aristotle ́s Unmoved Mover as efficient cause only to the extent that it is the final cause of heaven, which by moving strives to imitate the divine rest. Aquinas seems to agree with him. However his interpretation is original and philosophically more satisfactory: God is the efficient cause of the world, not only as creator, but also as it ́s ruler. In this way God is also the final cause.


Author(s):  
John Dillon

Platonism is the body of doctrine developed in the school founded by Plato, both before and (especially) after his death in 347 bc. The first phase, usually known as ‘Early Platonism’ or the ‘Early Academy’, ran until the 260s bc, and is represented above all by the work of Plato’s first three successors, Speusippus, Xenocrates and Polemo. After an interval of nearly two centuries during which the Academy became anti-doctrinal in tendency, doctrinal Platonism re-emerged in the early first century bc with Antiochus, whose school the ‘Old Academy’ claimed to be a revival of authentic Platonism, although its self-presentation was largely in the terminology forged by the Stoics. The phase from Antiochus to Numenius is conventionally known as Middle Platonism, and prepared the ground for the emergence of Neoplatonism in the work of Plotinus. Its leading figures are Antiochus, Eudorus, Plutarch of Chaeronea, Atticus, Alcinous, Albinus, Calvenus Taurus and Numenius. Its influence is also visible in major contemporary thinkers like the Jewish exegete Philo of Alexandria and the doctor Galen. Like Neoplatonism, Early and Middle Platonism were founded on a very close reading of the text of Plato, especially the Timaeus, often facilitated by commentaries, and further supplemented by knowledge of his ‘unwritten doctrines’. However, Early and Middle Platonists did not develop nearly so elaborate a metaphysics as the Neoplatonists, and there was a much greater concentration on ethics. Most Middle Platonists regarded Aristotle as an ally, and incorporated significant parts of his thought into Platonism, especially in ethics and logic. Some were Neo-Pythagorean in tendency, and most claimed in some sense to be able to trace Platonic thought back to Pythagoras. The Platonists developed the dualism of the One (an active, defining principle) and the Indefinite Dyad (an indeterminate, material principle), bequeathed by Plato, especially through his oral teachings. These eventually emerged as, respectively, God and matter, supplemented by the Platonic Forms, which Middle Platonists typically identified with God’s thoughts. The world-soul was distinguished from the demiurge or creator, who was in turn either distinguished from or collapsed into the primary divinity, a supreme intellect. Some, notably Plutarch, postulated in addition a counterbalancing evil world-soul. As regards the human soul, Plato’s division of it into a rational plus two irrational parts was maintained, along with his doctrine of transmigration. There was also an increasing focus on the intermediary role played by daemons in the functioning of the world. In ethics, most Middle Platonists came to effect an assimilation between Plato’s and Aristotle’s views. All agreed with Plato and Aristotle, against the Stoics, that as well as moral there are also non-moral goods, such as health and wealth. While there was a consensus that the latter are not necessary for happiness, some, notably Antiochus, defended the view that non-moral goods are indispensable, at least to supreme happiness. In addition, Aristotle’s doctrine that virtue lies in a ‘mean’ became a central feature of Platonist ethics. As for the ‘goal’ or ‘end’ (telos) of life, this came from the first century bc onwards, perhaps starting with Eudorus, to be specified by Platonists as ‘likeness to God’. Finally, the issue of determinism was, in the wake of Hellenistic philosophy, recognized as important by Middle Platonists, who defended the existence of free will. Platonism never developed its own logic, but adopted Peripatetic logic, including both syllogistic and the theory of categories, both of which, it was claimed, had been anticipated by Plato.


Author(s):  
O. Faroon ◽  
F. Al-Bagdadi ◽  
T. G. Snider ◽  
C. Titkemeyer

The lymphatic system is very important in the immunological activities of the body. Clinicians confirm the diagnosis of infectious diseases by palpating the involved cutaneous lymph node for changes in size, heat, and consistency. Clinical pathologists diagnose systemic diseases through biopsies of superficial lymph nodes. In many parts of the world the goat is considered as an important source of milk and meat products.The lymphatic system has been studied extensively. These studies lack precise information on the natural morphology of the lymph nodes and their vascular and cellular constituent. This is due to using improper technique for such studies. A few studies used the SEM, conducted by cutting the lymph node with a blade. The morphological data collected by this method are artificial and do not reflect the normal three dimensional surface of the examined area of the lymph node. SEM has been used to study the lymph vessels and lymph nodes of different animals. No information on the cutaneous lymph nodes of the goat has ever been collected using the scanning electron microscope.


Author(s):  
Pramukti Dian Setianingrum ◽  
Farah Irmania Tsani

Backgroud: The World Health Organization (WHO) explained that the number of Hyperemesis Gravidarum cases reached 12.5% of the total number of pregnancies in the world and the results of the Demographic Survey conducted in 2007, stated that 26% of women with live births experienced complications. The results of the observations conducted at the Midwife Supriyati Clinic found that pregnant women with hyperemesis gravidarum, with a comparison of 10 pregnant women who examined their contents there were about 4 pregnant women who complained of excessive nausea and vomiting. Objective: to determine the hyperemesis Gravidarum of pregnant mother in clinic. Methods: This study used Qualitative research methods by using a case study approach (Case Study.) Result: The description of excessive nausea of vomiting in women with Hipermemsis Gravidarum is continuous nausea and vomiting more than 10 times in one day, no appetite or vomiting when fed, the body feels weak, blood pressure decreases until the body weight decreases and interferes with daily activities days The factors that influence the occurrence of Hyperemesis Gravidarum are Hormonal, Diet, Unwanted Pregnancy, and psychology, primigravida does not affect the occurrence of Hyperemesis Gravidarum. Conclusion: Mothers who experience Hyperemesis Gravidarum feel nausea vomiting continuously more than 10 times in one day, no appetite or vomiting when fed, the body feels weak, blood pressure decreases until the weight decreases and interferes with daily activities, it is because there are several factors, namely, hormonal actors, diet, unwanted pregnancy, and psychology.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-66
Author(s):  
Monika Szuba

The essay discusses selected poems from Thomas Hardy's vast body of poetry, focusing on representations of the self and the world. Employing Maurice Merleau-Ponty's concepts such as the body-subject, wild being, flesh, and reversibility, the essay offers an analysis of Hardy's poems in the light of phenomenological philosophy. It argues that far from demonstrating ‘cosmic indifference’, Hardy's poetry offers a sympathetic vision of interrelations governing the universe. The attunement with voices of the Earth foregrounded in the poems enables the self's entanglement in the flesh of the world, a chiasmatic intertwining of beings inserted between the leaves of the world. The relation of the self with the world is established through the act of perception, mainly visual and aural, when the body becomes intertwined with the world, thus resulting in a powerful welding. Such moments of vision are brief and elusive, which enhances a sense of transitoriness, and, yet, they are also timeless as the self becomes immersed in the experience. As time is a recurrent theme in Hardy's poetry, this essay discusses it in the context of dwelling, the provisionality of which is demonstrated in the prevalent sense of temporality, marked by seasons and birdsong, which underline the rhythms of the world.


Author(s):  
Shiva Kumar K ◽  
Purushothaman M ◽  
Soujanya H ◽  
Jagadeeshwari S

Gastric ulcers or the peptic ulcer is the primary disease that affects the gastrointestinal system. A large extent of the population in the world are suffering from the disease, and the age group of people those who suffer from ulcers are 20-55years. Herbs are known to the human beings that are useful in the treatment of diseases, and there are a lot of scientific investigations that prove the pharmacological activity of herbal drugs. Practitioners have been using the herbal material to treat the ulcers successfully, and the same had been reported scientifically. Numerous publications have been made that proves the antiulcer activity of the plants around the world. The tablets were investigated for the antiulcer activity in two doses 200 and 400mg/kg in albino Wistar rats in the artificial ulcer those are induced by the ethanol. The prepared tablets showed a better activity compared to the standard synthetic drug and the marketed ayurvedic formulation. The tablets showed a dose-dependent activity in ulcer prevention and treatment. Many synthetic drugs are available for the ulcer treatment, and the drugs pose the other problems in the body by showing the side effects and some other reactions. This limits the use of synthetic drugs to treat ulcers effectively. Herbs are known to the human beings that are useful in the treatment of diseases, and there are a lot of scientific investigations that prove the pharmacological activity of herbal drugs.


GIS Business ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 202-206
Author(s):  
SAJITHA M

Food is one of the main requirements of human being. It is flattering for the preservation of wellbeing and nourishment of the body.  The food of a society exposes its custom, prosperity, status, habits as well as it help to develop a culture. Food is one of the most important social indicators of a society. History of food carries a dynamic character in the socio- economic, political, and cultural realm of a society. The food is one of the obligatory components in our daily life. It occupied an obvious atmosphere for the augmentation of healthy life and anticipation against the diseases.  The food also shows a significant character in establishing cultural distinctiveness, and it reflects who we are. Food also reflected as the symbol of individuality, generosity, social status and religious believes etc in a civilized society. Food is not a discriminating aspect. It is the part of a culture, habits, addiction, and identity of a civilization.Food plays a symbolic role in the social activities the world over. It’s a universal sign of hospitality.[1]


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