Music is an example of evolutionary convergence: Similar sound expressions can be found in birds, dolphins, wolves and in humans. This is evolutionary convergence. Present-time psychological research about the gender differences seems to support the statement of philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche: In the true man there is a child hidden – up ye, women, discover the child in man! Monogamy is common among primates and among birds. This is evolutionary convergence, too, and might be related to the ability to communicate with (...) sounds in a sophisticated way. My paper also deals with laughter, weeping and blushing, highlighted as Irenaeus Eibl-Eibesfeldt might have interpreted their evolutionary origin. (shrink)

La philosophie de Descartes se distingue de la haute scolastique par le point de départ gnoséologique et par le dualisme de la substance qui pense et de la substance étendue, sans reconnaissance d’êtres intermédiaires. Mais elle a en commun avec les nominalistes du moyen âge :1° la fondation de la philosophie sur le principe gnoséologique Cogito ergo sum, que certains nominalistes français avaient renouvelé d’après Saint-Augustin ;2° la méfiance contre les concepts universaux et la prédilection pour l’intuition d’où est sorti (...) le dualisme del’esprit et du corps. Les difficultés de ce dualisme ne peuvent être surmontées que par le retour vers une métaphysique des intermédiaires. Un tel retour était alors impossible. Remarquons qu’aujourd’hui la situation a entièrement changé. — La grandeur historique de Descartes consiste dans ce qu’il a — successeur des grands nominalistes français du xive siècle — tâché d’unir la métaphysique aux sciences empiriques. (shrink)

Excerpt from Augustin und die Patristik Die christliche Theologie hat nach Irenaéiis1 dietätsachen der Offenbarung zu sammeln und _zu deuten. Unter den Tat sachen ist vor allem das nach der Überzeugung der Christen von Wundern und Weissagungen umgebene Wirken des Stifters der christlichen Religion, das Paradoxon, daß dieser Heiligste sterben mußte, endlich seine Auferstehung ge meint. Für die mitfühlende Rekonstruktion der christlichen Gedankenwelt (nicht für ihre Bewertung) ist es irrelevant' wieviel ein Nachforschender von diesen Tatsachen aner kennt. Sie sind geglaubt (...) worden. Werden sie geglaubt, dann ist der gedankliche Aufbau im großen logisch, d. H. Die christliche Theologie ist gewisse Voraussetzungen zuge standen ein philosophisches und als solches ein wissen schaftliches System. Theologie ist eine Form philosophi schen Denkens, das frühchristliche Dogma eine großartige Metaphysik der Geschichte und die Quelle auch andrer wertvoller Gedanken, die Geschichte des Dogmas gehort (mit einer bald zu erwahnenden Einschrankung) in die Ge schichte der Philosophie. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works. (shrink)

The geometric shapes and natural forms, captured with exceptional precision in Ernst Haeckel's prints, still influence artists and designers to this day. This volume highlights the research and findings of this natural scientist. Powerful modern microscopes have confirmed the accuracy of Haeckel's prints, which even in their day, became world famous. Haeckel's portfolio, first published between 1899 and 1904 in separate installments, is described in the opening essays. The plates illustrate Haeckel's fundamental monistic notion of the "unity of all living (...) things" and the wide variety of forms are executed with utmost delicacy. Incipient microscopic organisms are juxtaposed with highly developed plants and animals. The pages, ordered according to geometric and "constructive" aspects, document the oness of the world in its most diversified forms. This collection of plates was not only well-received by scientists, but by artists and architects as well. Rene Binet, a pioneer of glass and iron constructions, Emile Galle, a renowned Art Nouveau designer, and the photographer Karl Blossfeld all make explicit reference to Haeckel in their work. (shrink)

Eric Osborn's book presents a major study of Irenaeus, bishop of Lyons, who attacked Gnostic theosophy with positive ideas as well as negative critiques. Irenaeus's combination of argument and imagery, logic and aesthetic, was directed to the bible. Dominated by a Socratic love of truth and a classical love of beauty, he was a founder of Western humanism. Erasmus, who edited the first printed edition of Irenaeus, praised him for his freshness and vigour. He is today valued for his splendid (...) aphorisms, his optimism, love of the created world, evolutionary view of history, theology of beauty and humour. Why have two millennia of European culture been so creative? Irenaeus points to Greek ways of thinking and the Christian Bible. Irenaeus's thought is complex, yet rewarding to the critical reader, and this full study of it will be of interest to theologians, historians of ideas, classicists, scientists and students. (shrink)

God's hospitality or welcome of human beings into eternal life can be approached by means of Western or Eastern strategies. I explore Derrida's understanding of "pure hospitality", which contains parallels with apophatic theology. I then appeal to Irenaeus's eschatology, which exhibits a fruitful tension between kataphatic and apophatic elements, to provide a transcendent warrant for human hospitality. On the one hand, the Bishop's millenarian opposition to Gnosticism implies the continuation of the substance of creation in the eternal Kingdom. On the (...) other hand, Irenaeus's emphasis on deification and visio Dei suggests a future of "pure hospitality" and openness. (shrink)

Irenaeus of Lyons wrote Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching to encourage his readers of the solidity of their faith, especially as this faith was connected to baptism under the threefold seal: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The threefold nature of the baptismal formula drives Irenaeus’ discussion in Epid. 3-7 and is the point with which he concludes the work, saying, ‘error, concerning the three heads of our seal, has caused much straying from the truth’. Irenaeus structures the intervening chapters to (...) show how Christian baptism is both a testimony to and participation with the Triune God referenced in the baptismal formula. The lack of explicit structural markers within the body of the text has resulted in a neglect of the trinitarian character of its structure. This article explores the manner in which Irenaeus of Lyons’ Demonstration provides insight into his understanding of the nature and activity of the Triune God based on his conviction that Christian baptism is both a testimony to and a participation with that Triune God. (shrink)

Irenaeus of Lyon is a landmark in the reception history of the Shepherd of Hermas, as he seems to consider it scriptural, while being the earliest author to quote its text. The present article reconsiders the presence of the Shepherd of Hermas in the works of Irenaeus of Lyon, offering a fresh assessment of the rather differing stances on the matter in modern scholarship and some new considerations, with relevance for better understanding the circulation, function and use of authoritative texts (...) in early Christianity. (shrink)

The patristic period is the process that starts with the birth of Jesus and continues until the Nicean Council. Before the Nicean Council, Jesus, the only God's apostle, has gone instead of Jesus, the son of God. There was no intact Bible in the time of Irenaeus, who was among the apologists who advocated monotheism. This harsh and hard struggle of Irenaeus against those who do not accept the one God undoubtedly provides us with information about the profile of Christ (...) before the Nicean Council. Adversus Haereses consists of five parts. In the first part of the work, he explains his thoughts on gnosticism, in the second part, he criticizes and refutes the gnostic arguments, and explains the Christian doctrine in the other three parts. The first sentence of his book begins with "There is only one God: it cannot be otherwise." In this article, I will analyze the monotheistic words of Irenaeus in Adversus Haereses. (shrink)

In _Adversus haereses _2.33-34, Irenaeus rejects the Platonic view of the pre-existence of the soul, and his tale of a daemon who serves up the drink from the Lethe, the river of forgetfulness. Irenaeus’ argument appears in the context of a larger polemic against the Carpocratian view of education and recollection, so it appropriately draws from philosophical discussions on education and recollection. When Irenaeus’ opposes the Platonic myth, his argument reflects Strato of Lampsacus, a Peripatetic philosopher. I will highlight the (...) parallels between them, particularly in their description of the soul as participating in life rather than being life itself, an affirmation that has created some contention within studies of Irenaeus’ theology. Finally, I suggest that this dependence in Book 2 of _Adversus haereses _continues in one of Irenaeus’s most famous descriptions of participation in _haer. _4.20.5, for Irenaeus uses the same metaphor of light and the same verb as Strato. In addition to studying the parallels between Irenaeus and Strato, which has not been done yet, my main contribution is to suggest that Strato’s influence should be recognized in the famous Irenaeus’s view of participation. (shrink)