Ancient and Medieval Theories of Soul

A special issue of Philosophies (ISSN 2409-9287).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 July 2024 | Viewed by 2608

Special Issue Editors


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Philosophy, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 15703 Athens, Greece
Interests: medieval and renaissance philosophy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Philosophische Fakultät, Kulturgeschichte des Orthodoxen Christentums, Universität Erfurt, 99089 Erfurt, Germany
2. Department. of Philosophy, University of Ioannina, 45500 Ioannina, Greece
Interests: philosophy of late antiquity; patristics and byzantine philosophy

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Soul as an object of philosophical enquiry has always formed a point of convergence between metaphysics and ethics, and hence anthropology, as well as natural philosophy, especially qua biology. Philosophers have been pondering about soul’s status, structure and interrelations from the very beginnings of philosophy, and still do today, despite the more recent development of psychology as an autonomous scientific discipline with various subdivisions. The journal Philosophies, sensitive not only to core issues calling for philosophical reflection, but also to the various historical and cultural settings in which philosophical concepts and theological ideas were put forth, aims to devote a Special Issue to what pertains to theories of soul that were formulated in Antiquity and the Long Middle Ages. The time delineation makes sense, since the Middle Ages, in its triple expression in Western Europe (Latin-speaking), Byzantium (Greek-speaking) and the Islamic World, can be seen as the inheritor of the ancient philosophical wisdom, which dealt specifically with soul (of both human and non-human beings).

Hence, we are pleased to invite you to submit articles on the topic as has been broadly defined above. Papers can be comparative (in both the diachronic and the synchronic axes) or not; in the case of comparative articles, philosophy and science in the Renaissance would be another point of reference in itself (as an inheritor of ancient and medieval wisdom), as well as its so-called scientiae occultae. Topics may include (but are not limited to) the following: divisions and faculties of soul; soul and personal identity; soul’s relation to body; the role and mechanics of cognition; the role and mechanics of sense-perception; imagination, dreams and prophecy; soul as an image of the divine; the state of intellect; soul’s desires and will.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Georgios Steiris
Dr. Dimitrios Vasilakis
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Philosophies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • soul and body
  • cognition
  • desire
  • imagination
  • faculties and divisions of soul
  • intellect
  • perception
  • will

Published Papers (2 papers)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

20 pages, 404 KiB  
Article
Soul as Principle in Plato’s Charmides: A Reading of Plato’s Anthropological Ontology Based on Hermias Alexandrinus on Plato’s Phaedrus
by Melina G. Mouzala
Philosophies 2024, 9(3), 77; https://doi.org/10.3390/philosophies9030077 - 26 May 2024
Viewed by 237
Abstract
This paper aims to interpret the role of the soul as ontological, intellectual or cognitive and as the moral principle within the frame of the holistic conception of human psychosomatic health that emerges from the context of Zalmoxian medicine in the proemium of [...] Read more.
This paper aims to interpret the role of the soul as ontological, intellectual or cognitive and as the moral principle within the frame of the holistic conception of human psychosomatic health that emerges from the context of Zalmoxian medicine in the proemium of Plato’s Charmides. It examines what the ontological status of the soul is in relation to the body and the body–soul complex of man considered as a psychosomatic whole. By comparing the presentation of the soul as principle in the Charmides and the Phaedrus, the paper defends the thesis that in the former dialogue, Plato develops his own anthropological ontology, which paves the way for the salvation of human existence and health. The soul is bestowed with an ontological primacy that determines the philosophical and medical presuppositions for treating human illness under a holistic view. The interpretation of the ontological relation of the soul to the body and the entire human being in the context of Zalmoxian holistic medicine is based on Hermias Alexandrinus’ exegesis of the conception of the soul as principle in the Phaedrus. This paper demonstrates that, from both the medical holistic viewpoint and the anthropological philosophical perspective, the soul is the principle and πρῶτον with regard to the body and the body–soul complex without being the whole that the corresponding medical epistemology must apprehend. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ancient and Medieval Theories of Soul)
33 pages, 46215 KiB  
Article
The Necessity and Goodness of Animals in Sijistānī’s Kashf Al-Maḥjūb
by Peter Adamson and Hanif Amin Beidokhti
Philosophies 2024, 9(3), 72; https://doi.org/10.3390/philosophies9030072 - 20 May 2024
Viewed by 511
Abstract
The Neoplatonic notion of “emanation” implies a required progression through hierarchical stages, originating from the highest principle (the One or God) and cascading down through a series of principles. While this process is deemed necessary, it is also inherently good, even “choiceworthy”, aligning [...] Read more.
The Neoplatonic notion of “emanation” implies a required progression through hierarchical stages, originating from the highest principle (the One or God) and cascading down through a series of principles. While this process is deemed necessary, it is also inherently good, even “choiceworthy”, aligning with the identification of the first principle with the Good. Plotinus, a prominent Neoplatonist, emphasizes the beauty and goodness of the sensible world, governed by divine providence. This perspective, transmitted through Arabic adaptations of Plotinus, influences Islamic philosophers too. This paper delves into the thought of the Ismāʿīlī philosopher Abū Yaʿqūb al-Sijistānī (d. after. 349/971), exploring the interplay of necessity and goodness in his cosmology, with a focus on non-human animals. Sijistānī’s Persian Uncovering the Veiled provides a unique perspective on animals, presenting them as both necessary unfoldings of the universal intellect and inherently good beings with intrinsic value. The paper concludes with an appendix featuring an improved edition and English translation of relevant passages. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ancient and Medieval Theories of Soul)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop