Microcosm renaissance10/21/2023 ![]() ![]() 334–262 BCE), founder of the Stoic school of philosophy. ![]() In contemporary usage, the terms microcosm and macrocosm are also employed to refer to any smaller system that is representative of a larger one, and vice versa. However, the terms microcosm and macrocosm refer more specifically to the analogy as it was developed in ancient Greek philosophy and its medieval and early modern descendants. The view itself is ancient, and may be found in many philosophical systems world-wide, such as for example in ancient Mesopotamia, in ancient Iran, or in ancient Chinese philosophy. For example, the cosmological functions of the seven classical planets were sometimes taken to be analogous to the physiological functions of human organs, such as the heart, the spleen, the liver, the stomach, etc. Hence, it was sometimes inferred that the human mind or soul too was divine in nature.Īpart from this important psychological and noetic (i.e., related to the mind) application, the analogy was also applied to human physiology. Moreover, this cosmic mind or soul was often thought to be divine. One important implication of this view is that the cosmos as a whole may be considered to be alive, and thus to have a mind or soul (the world soul). Given this fundamental analogy, truths about the nature of the cosmos as a whole may be inferred from truths about human nature, and vice versa. The microcosm-macrocosm analogy (or, equivalently, macrocosm-microcosm analogy) refers to the view according to which there is a structural similarity between the human being (the microcosm, i.e., the small order or the small universe) and the cosmos as a whole (the macrocosm, i.e., the great order or the great universe). "Macrocosm and microcosm", engraving attached to Basilica Philosophica, third volume of Johann Daniel Mylius’ Opus Medico-Chymicum, Frankfurt
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