World soul: a history PDF
Preview World soul: a history
World Soul oxford philosophical concepts ii [OXFORD PHILOSOPHICAL CONCEPTS] Christia Mercer, Columbia University Series Editor PUBLISHED IN THE OXFORD PHILOSOPHICAL CONCEPTS SERIES Efficient Causation Animals Edited by Tad Schmaltz Edited by G. Fay Edwards and Peter Adamson Sympathy Edited by Eric Schliesser Pleasure Edited by Lisa Shapiro The Faculties Edited by Dominik Perler Health Edited by Peter Adamson Memory Edited by Dmitri Nikulin Evil Edited by Andrew Chignell Moral Motivation Edited by Iakovos Vasiliou Persons Edited by Antonia LoLordo Eternity Edited by Yitzhak Melamed Space Edited by Andrew Janiak Self- Knowledge Edited by Ursula Renz Teleology Edited by Jeffrey K. McDonough Embodiment Edited by Justin E. H. Smith World Soul Edited by James Wilberding Dignity Edited by Remy Debes Powers Edited by Julia Jorati The Self Edited by Patricia Kitcher FORTHCOMING IN THE OXFORD PHILOSOPHICAL CONCEPTS SERIES Modality Love Edited by Yitzhak Melamed Edited by Ryan Hanley Human The Principle of Sufficient Reason Karolina Hubner Edited by Fatema Amijee and Michael Della Rocca oxford philosophical concepts World Soul A History j Edited by James Wilberding 1 iv 1 Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and certain other countries. Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press 198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, United States of America. © Oxford University Press 2021 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, by license, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reproduction rights organization. Inquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above. You must not circulate this work in any other form and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer. Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data Names: Wilberding, James, editor. Title: World soul : a history / edited by James Wilberding. Description: New York, NY, United States of America : Oxford University Press, [2021] | Series: Oxford philosophical concepts | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2020058621 (print) | LCCN 2020058622 (ebook) | ISBN 9780190913441 (hardback) | ISBN 9780190913434 (paperback) | ISBN 9780190913472 (epub) Subjects: LCSH: Soul— History. Classification: LCC BD421 .W67 2021 (print) | LCC BD421 (ebook) | DDC 128/ .1— dc23 LC record available at https:// lccn.loc.gov/ 2020058621 LC ebook record available at https:// lccn.loc.gov/ 2020058622 DOI: 10.1093/ oso/ 9780190913441.001.0001 1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2 Paperback printed by Marquis, Canada Hardback printed by Bridgeport National Bindery, Inc., United States of America Contents Series Editor’s Foreword vii Acknowledgments ix List of Contributors xi Introduction 1 James Wilberding 1 The World Soul in the Platonic Tradition 15 James Wilberding 2 The Stoic World Soul and the Theory of Seminal Principles 44 Ricardo Salles Reflection I The World Soul and Harmony 67 Liba Taub 3 “The Universe Is an Animal”: The World Soul in Medieval Philosophy 73 Peter Adamson 4 The “World Soul” in India: Complex Causality and Artful Emergence in Śakti Vedānta 100 Jessica Frazier vi vi Contents 5 Glimmers of the World Soul in Kabbalah 124 Jeremy P. Brown 6 The World Soul in the Renaissance 151 Hiro Hirai Reflection II The World Soul and Spontaneous Generation 177 Gideon Manning and James Wilberding 7 The World Soul in Early Modern Philosophy 186 Alison Peterman Reflection III The World Soul in Henry Purcell’s Setting of “Hail, Bright Cecilia” 223 Bryan White 8 The Miracle and Mystery of Nature: Romantic Searches for the World Soul 232 Elizabeth Millán Brusslan 9 Nature, Freedom, History: The World Soul in German Idealism 258 Brady Bowman Reflection IV World Soul and Individual Soul in Psychoanalysis 284 Alexandrine Schniewind 10 The World Soul in American Transcendentalism 290 Laura Dassow Walls Reflection V The World Soul and Gaia 314 J. Baird Callicott 11 Contemporary Echoes of the World Soul: Quantum Mechanics and Consciousness 320 Valia Allori Bibliography 343 Index 379 Series Editor’s Foreword Oxford Philosophical Concepts (OPC) offers an innovative approach to philosophy’s past and its relation to other disciplines. As a series, it is unique in exploring the transformations of central philosophical concepts from their ancient sources to their modern use. OPC has several goals: to make it easier for historians to contextu- alize key concepts in the history of philosophy, to render that history accessible to a wide audience, and to enliven contemporary discussions by displaying the rich and varied sources of philosophical concepts still in use today. The means to these goals are simple enough: emi- nent scholars come together to rethink a central concept in philoso- phy’s past. The point of this rethinking is not to offer a broad overview, but to identify problems the concept was originally supposed to solve and investigate how approaches to them shifted over time, sometimes radically. Recent scholarship has made evident the benefits of reexamining the standard narratives about western philosophy. OPC’s editors look be- yond the canon and explore their concepts over a wide philosophical landscape. Each volume traces a notion from its inception as a solu- tion to specific problems through its historical transformations to its modern use, all the while acknowledging its historical context. Each OPC volume is a history of its concept in that it tells a story about changing solutions to its well- defined problem. Many editors have viii viii Series Editor’s Foreword found it appropriate to include long- ignored writings drawn from the Islamic and Jewish traditions and the philosophical contributions of women. Volumes also explore ideas drawn from Buddhist, Chinese, Indian, and other philosophical cultures when doing so adds an espe- cially helpful new perspective. By combining scholarly innovation with focused and astute analysis, OPC encourages a deeper understanding of our philosophical past and present. One of the most innovative features of OPCs is its recognition that philosophy bears a rich relation to art, music, literature, religion, sci- ence, and other cultural practices. The series speaks to the need for informed interdisciplinary exchanges. Its editors assume that the most difficult and profound philosophical ideas can be made com- prehensible to a large audience and that materials not strictly philo- sophical often bear a significant relevance to philosophy. To this end, each OPC volume includes Reflections. These are short stand- alone essays written by specialists in art, music, literature, theology, science, or cultural studies that reflect on the concept from their own disci- plinary perspectives. The goal of these essays is to enliven, enrich, and exemplify the volume’s concept and reconsider the boundary between philosophical and extra- philosophical materials. OPC’s Reflections display the benefits of using philosophical concepts and distinctions in areas that are not strictly philosophical, and encourage philosophers to move beyond the borders of their discipline as presently conceived. The volumes of OPC arrive at an auspicious moment. Many phi- losophers are keen to invigorate the discipline. OPC aims to provoke philosophical imaginations by uncovering the brilliant twists and un- foreseen turns of philosophy’s past. Christia Mercer Gustave M. Berne Professor of Philosophy Columbia University in the City of New York Acknowledgments Thank you to all of the contributors for their willingness to devote their time and energy to this project. Drafts of many of the chap- ters were presented and discussed at a workshop held at Humboldt University, Berlin, on November 29– 30, 2018. I am very grateful to Gerd Grasshoff and TOPOI for providing the funding for this workshop, and to Kerstin Helf and Giulia Weißmann for their help in organizing and running the workshop. This workshop included a number of invited participants who provided valuable feedback and questions on the drafts, and I would like to thank them here: George Boys- Stones, Katja Krause, Michael Mack, Michael Ruse, Wilhelm Schmidt- Biggemann, Johannes- Georg Schülein, Justin E. H. Smith, and R. van Woudenberg. Lukas Apsel also deserves many thanks for his tireless support in preparing the bibliography and the biblio- graphical references for publication, as does Lucy Randall at Oxford University Press for all of the work on her side of the operation that went into the publication of this volume. Last but not least, I am very grateful to the series editor, Christia Mercer, for her continued support and encouragement throughout the project.
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