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More than Heat and Light: Miskawayh's Epistle on Soul and Intellect
Author(s) -
Adamson Peter,
Pormann Peter E.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
the muslim world
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.106
H-Index - 23
eISSN - 1478-1913
pISSN - 0027-4909
DOI - 10.1111/j.1478-1913.2012.01407.x
Subject(s) - soul , intellect , citation , theology , philosophy , art history , classics , art , computer science , library science
It is a fact that all things which undergo nurture and growth contain within themselves a power of heat without which they could not be nurtured and grow. For everything which is hot and fiery is roused and activated by its own movement; but a thing which is nourished and grows has a definite and regular movement; as long as this remains in us, so long sensation and life remain, but when the heat has been chilled and extinguished, we ourselves die and are extinguished. . . . It has often been observed that when a living thing’s heart is torn out, it beats so rapidly that it resembles the swiftness of fire. Therefore every living thing, whether animal or vegetable, is alive on account of the heat enclosed within it. From this it must be understood that the element heat has within itself a vital power which pervades the whole world.