Vitalism
Vitalism is the metaphysical view that nature is composed of living and intelligent matter. In other words, "everything is alive" (Copenhaver 2015, 510). In the late Renaissance, it was espoused by Giordano Bruno and Tomasso Campanella. Margaret Cavendish, the Duchess of Newcastle, defended a vitalist view of metaphysics during the mid to late Seventeenth century.
Vitalism is usually characterized as a form of materialism and monism. Vitalists believe that there is only one kind of substance (monism), and that substance is made of matter, albeit matter that is capable of both thought and perception. According to Bruno, everything is material, including God and demons (Bruno 2015, 437). His view is akin to the Stoic conception of nature as rational (logos) and possessing a spirit or mind (nous). Bruno and Cavendish both consider nature to be one organism, more like a giant animal than a giant machine (Copenhaver 2015, 510).
Bruno's view is best understood as "divine vitalism." The intelligence and life possessed by nature seems to be God's intelligence and life: "all things are full of spirit, soul, power, God or divinity and that intellect and soul are wholly everywhere" (2015, 438). In contrast, Campanella and Cavendish--while crediting God with the creation of matter--are naturalists. Causation, change, and movement are due to the self-moving nature of matter itself. Usually such change is attributed to mental and agential properties such as desire and aversion, self-preservation, and a desire to extinguish their opposites.
Campanella argues that stones, metals, plants, animals, humans, and human inventions (such as ships and keys/locks) all possess intelligent life (2015, 532-33). Athanias Kircher, who believed magnetism was a fundamental and universal property of matter (like gravity), could be considered a vitalist. He likewise accounts for magnetism in terms of attraction and aversion: "this attraction is a kind of love whereby, through natural desire, things seek what is good, friendly and similar to them. And repulsion is the anger in a kind of hatred whereby they strive to get rid of the bad, unfriendly and dissimilar" (2015, 557).
Key Words: panpsychism, pansensism, rational matter, sensitive matter, logos, nous
Bibliography:
Bruno, Giordano. 2015. "The Bonds of Magic: Bruno, On Natural Magic, 49-83." In The Book of Magic: From Antiquity to the Enlightenment, Translated by Brian Copenhaver. Penguin Classics, 437-41.
Bruno, Giordano. 2015. "Love is the Great Demon: Bruno, A General Theory of Bonds, 3.12-15." In The Book of Magic: From Antiquity to the Enlightenment, Translated by Brian Copenhaver. Penguin Classics, 435-36.
Campanella, Tomasso. 2015. "Cold Slain by Heat: Campanella, On Sense and Magic, 2.26." In The Book of Magic: From Antiquity to the Enlightenment, Translated by Brian Copenhaver. Penguin Classics, 529-31.
Campanella, Tomasso. 2015. "Consensus: Campanella, On Sense and Magic, 3.13-14. In The Book of Magic: From Antiquity to the Enlightenment, Translated by Brian Copenhaver. Penguin Classics, 532-33.
Campanella, Tomasso. 2015. "Science is Magic: Campanella, On Sense and Magic, 4.5-6." In The Book of Magic: From Antiquity to the Enlightenment, Translated by Brian Copenhaver. Penguin Classics, 534.
Cavendish, Margaret. Philosophical Letters.
Copenhaver, Brian. 2015. The Book of Magic: From Antiquity to the Enlightenment. Penguin Classics.
Kircher, Athanasius. 2015. "Magnetisms: Athanasius Kircher, Nature's Magnetic Kingdom, I." In The Book of Magic: From Antiquity to the Enlightenment, Translated by Brian Copenhaver. Penguin Classics, 556-57.
Vitalism is the metaphysical view that nature is composed of living and intelligent matter. In other words, "everything is alive" (Copenhaver 2015, 510). In the late Renaissance, it was espoused by Giordano Bruno and Tomasso Campanella. Margaret Cavendish, the Duchess of Newcastle, defended a vitalist view of metaphysics during the mid to late Seventeenth century.
Vitalism is usually characterized as a form of materialism and monism. Vitalists believe that there is only one kind of substance (monism), and that substance is made of matter, albeit matter that is capable of both thought and perception. According to Bruno, everything is material, including God and demons (Bruno 2015, 437). His view is akin to the Stoic conception of nature as rational (logos) and possessing a spirit or mind (nous). Bruno and Cavendish both consider nature to be one organism, more like a giant animal than a giant machine (Copenhaver 2015, 510).
Bruno's view is best understood as "divine vitalism." The intelligence and life possessed by nature seems to be God's intelligence and life: "all things are full of spirit, soul, power, God or divinity and that intellect and soul are wholly everywhere" (2015, 438). In contrast, Campanella and Cavendish--while crediting God with the creation of matter--are naturalists. Causation, change, and movement are due to the self-moving nature of matter itself. Usually such change is attributed to mental and agential properties such as desire and aversion, self-preservation, and a desire to extinguish their opposites.
Campanella argues that stones, metals, plants, animals, humans, and human inventions (such as ships and keys/locks) all possess intelligent life (2015, 532-33). Athanias Kircher, who believed magnetism was a fundamental and universal property of matter (like gravity), could be considered a vitalist. He likewise accounts for magnetism in terms of attraction and aversion: "this attraction is a kind of love whereby, through natural desire, things seek what is good, friendly and similar to them. And repulsion is the anger in a kind of hatred whereby they strive to get rid of the bad, unfriendly and dissimilar" (2015, 557).
Key Words: panpsychism, pansensism, rational matter, sensitive matter, logos, nous
Bibliography:
Bruno, Giordano. 2015. "The Bonds of Magic: Bruno, On Natural Magic, 49-83." In The Book of Magic: From Antiquity to the Enlightenment, Translated by Brian Copenhaver. Penguin Classics, 437-41.
Bruno, Giordano. 2015. "Love is the Great Demon: Bruno, A General Theory of Bonds, 3.12-15." In The Book of Magic: From Antiquity to the Enlightenment, Translated by Brian Copenhaver. Penguin Classics, 435-36.
Campanella, Tomasso. 2015. "Cold Slain by Heat: Campanella, On Sense and Magic, 2.26." In The Book of Magic: From Antiquity to the Enlightenment, Translated by Brian Copenhaver. Penguin Classics, 529-31.
Campanella, Tomasso. 2015. "Consensus: Campanella, On Sense and Magic, 3.13-14. In The Book of Magic: From Antiquity to the Enlightenment, Translated by Brian Copenhaver. Penguin Classics, 532-33.
Campanella, Tomasso. 2015. "Science is Magic: Campanella, On Sense and Magic, 4.5-6." In The Book of Magic: From Antiquity to the Enlightenment, Translated by Brian Copenhaver. Penguin Classics, 534.
Cavendish, Margaret. Philosophical Letters.
Copenhaver, Brian. 2015. The Book of Magic: From Antiquity to the Enlightenment. Penguin Classics.
Kircher, Athanasius. 2015. "Magnetisms: Athanasius Kircher, Nature's Magnetic Kingdom, I." In The Book of Magic: From Antiquity to the Enlightenment, Translated by Brian Copenhaver. Penguin Classics, 556-57.
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