''Pneuma'' () is an
ancient Greek
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...
word for "
breath
Breathing (or ventilation) is the process of moving air into and from the lungs to facilitate gas exchange with the internal environment, mostly to flush out carbon dioxide and bring in oxygen.
All aerobic creatures need oxygen for cellular ...
", and in a religious context for "
spirit
Spirit or spirits may refer to:
Liquor and other volatile liquids
* Spirits, a.k.a. liquor, distilled alcoholic drinks
* Spirit or tincture, an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol
* Volatile (especially flammable) liquids, ...
" or "
soul
In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being".
Etymology
The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...
". It has various technical meanings for medical writers and philosophers of
classical antiquity
Classical antiquity (also the classical era, classical period or classical age) is the period of cultural history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD centred on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ...
, particularly in regard to
physiology
Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical ...
, and is also used in Greek translations of ''ruach''
רוח in the
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;["Tanach"](_blank)
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. Hebrew: ''Tān ...
, and in the
Greek New Testament Greek New Testament refers to the New Testament in Koine Greek.
It may also refer to the following texts:
* ''Novum Instrumentum omne''
* ''Textus Receptus'', the basis of the King James Bible
* ''Novum Testamentum Graece'', a critical edition of t ...
.
In classical philosophy, it is distinguishable from ''
psyche'' (), which originally meant "breath of life", but is regularly translated as "spirit" or most often "
soul
In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being".
Etymology
The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...
".
Presocratics
, "air in motion, breath, wind", is equivalent in the
material monism of
Anaximenes to (, "air") as the element from which all else originated. This usage is the earliest extant occurrence of the term in philosophy. A quotation from Anaximenes observes that "just as our soul (''psyche''), being air (), holds us together, so do breath () and air () encompass the whole world." In this early usage, and are synonymous.
Aristotle
The "connate pneuma" (''symphuton pneuma'') of
Aristotle
Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...
is the warm mobile "air" that plays many roles in Aristotle's biological texts. It is in sperm and is responsible for transmitting the capacity for locomotion and certain sensations to the offspring. These movements derive from the soul of the parent and are embodied by the ''pneuma'' as a material substance in semen.
''Pneuma'' is necessary for life, and as in medical theory is involved with preserving the "vital heat," but some commentators think the Aristotelian ''pneuma'' is less precisely and thoroughly defined than that of the Stoics.
Movement of Animals
''Movement of Animals'' (or ''On the Motion of Animals''; Greek Περὶ ζῴων κινήσεως; Latin ''De Motu Animalium'') is one of Aristotle's major texts on biology. It sets out the general principles of animal locomotion.
Pneuma
A ...
explains the activity of desire (''
orexis
''Lycoris'' is a genus of 13–20 species of flowering plants in the family Amaryllidaceae, subfamily Amaryllidoideae. They are native to eastern and southern Asia in China, Japan, southern Korea, northern Vietnam, northern Laos, northern Tha ...
'') as an expansion and contraction of ''pneuma.'' The innate spirit (''symphuton pneuma'') is the power of the soul (''psychiken'') to be mobile (''kinetikon'') and exercise strength.
All animals "possess an inborn spirit (''pneuma sumphuton'') and exercise their strength in virtue of it." (703a10). This inborn spirit is used to explain desire (''orexis''), which is classified as the "central origin (''to meson''), which moves by being itself moved." (703a56). Aristotle furthers this idea of being a "middle cause" by furnishing the metaphor of the movement of the elbow, as it relates to the immobility of the shoulder (703a13). The inborn ''pneuma'' is, likewise, tethered to the soul, or as he says here, ''tēn'' ''arche tēn psuchikēn, "''the origin of the soul," the soul as the center of causality. This "spirit" is not the soul itself but a limb of the soul that helps it move.
The inborn spirit causes movement in the body by expanding and contracting. Each of these implies not only a movement but also a change in the degree of power and strength of the animal. "when it contracts it is without force, and one and the same cause gives it force and enables it to thrust." (703a23).
He also explained this in
''On Sleeping and Waking'' "In another place it has been laid down that sense-perception originates in the same part of an animal's body as movement does...In
sanguineous animals this is the region about the heart; for all sanguineous animals possess a heart, and both movement and the dominant sense-perception originate there. As for movement, it is clear that breathing and in general the process of cooling takes its rise here, and that nature has supplied both breathing and the power of cooling by moisture with a view to the conservation of the heat in that part. We will discuss this later on. In bloodless animals and insects and creatures which do not respire, the naturally inherent breath is seen expanding and contraction in the part which corresponds to the heart in other animals." 456a1–13.
"Since it is impossible to make any movement, or do any action without strength, and the holding of the breath produces strength" 456a17.
Pneuma also played an important role in respiration.
Respiration is the process by which breathing helps to cool and moderate the inner vital heat (''thermotēta psychikēs'') held in the heart.
"We have said before that life and the possession of heat depend upon some degree of heat; for digestion, by which animals assimilate their food, cannot take place apart from the soul and heat; for all food is rendered digestible by fire." 474a25–27.
Aristotle explains that if there is an excess of heat created in the heart the animal will "burn out" by excessively consuming the power sustaining its life (474b10–24). Its heat must be kindled (474b13) and in order to preserve (sōtērias) life, a cooling must take place (''katapsyxis'') (474b23).
Stoicism
In
Stoic philosophy, ''pneuma'' is the concept of the "breath of life," a mixture of the
elements air (in motion) and fire (as warmth). For the Stoics, ''pneuma'' is the active, generative principle that organizes both the individual and the
cosmos. In its highest form, ''pneuma'' constitutes the human soul (''psychê''), which is a fragment of the ''pneuma'' that is the soul of God (
Zeus
Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label=Genitive case, genitive Aeolic Greek, Boeotian Aeolic and Doric Greek#Laconian, Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label=Genitive case, genitive el, Δίας, ''D ...
). As a force that structures
matter
In classical physics and general chemistry, matter is any substance that has mass and takes up space by having volume. All everyday objects that can be touched are ultimately composed of atoms, which are made up of interacting subatomic partic ...
, it exists even in inanimate objects. In the foreword to his 1964 translation of Marcus Aurelius' ''
Meditations
''Meditations'' () is a series of personal writings by Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor from AD 161 to 180, recording his private notes to himself and ideas on Stoic philosophy.
Marcus Aurelius wrote the 12 books of the ''Meditations'' in Koine ...
'', Maxwell Staniforth writes:
Cleanthes, wishing to give more explicit meaning to Zeno's 'creative fire', had been the first to hit upon the term ''pneuma'', or 'spirit', to describe it. Like fire, this intelligent 'spirit' was imagined as a tenuous substance akin to a current of air or breath, but essentially possessing the quality of warmth; it was immanent in the universe as God, and in man as the soul and life-giving principle.
In the Stoic universe, everything consists of matter and pneuma. There are three grades or kinds of pneuma, depending on their proportion of fire and air.
* The pneuma of state or tension (''tonos''). This unifying and shaping pneuma provides stability or cohesion (''
hexis
Hexis ( grc, ἕξις) is a relatively stable arrangement or disposition, for example a person's health or knowledge or character. It is an Ancient Greek word, important in the philosophy of Aristotle, and because of this it has become a traditio ...
'') to things; it is a force that exists even in objects such as a stone, log, or cup. The 4th-century Christian philosopher
Nemesius
Nemesius of Emesa ( grc-gre, Νεμέσιος Ἐμέσης; la, Nemesius Emesenus; fl. c. AD 390) was a Christian philosopher, and the author of a treatise ''Περὶ φύσεως ἀνθρώπου'' or ''De natura hominis'' ("On Human Nature"). ...
attributes the power of pneuma in Stoic thought to its "tensile motion" (''tonicê kinêsis''); that is, the pneuma moves both outwards, producing
quantity
Quantity or amount is a property that can exist as a Counting, multitude or Magnitude (mathematics), magnitude, which illustrate discontinuity (mathematics), discontinuity and continuum (theory), continuity. Quantities can be compared in terms o ...
and
quality, and at the same time inwards, providing unity and substance. An individual is defined by the equilibrium of its inner pneuma, which holds it together and also separates it from the world around it.
* The pneuma as life force. The vegetative pneuma enables growth (''
physis'') and distinguishes a thing as alive.
* The pneuma as soul. The pneuma in its most rarefied and fiery form serves as the animal soul (''psychê''); it pervades the organism, governs its movements, and endows it with powers of perception and reproduction. This concept of pneuma is related to
Aristotle
Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...
's theory that the pneuma in sperm conveys the capacity for locomotion and for certain sensory perceptions to the offspring.
A fourth grade of pneuma may also be distinguished. This is the rational soul (''logica psychê'') of the mature human being, which grants the power of judgment.
In Stoic
cosmology
Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount (lexicographer), Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', and in 1731 taken up in ...
, the cosmos is a whole and single entity, a living thing with a soul of its own. Everything that exists depends on two first principles which can be neither created nor destroyed: matter, which is passive and inert, and the ''
logos
''Logos'' (, ; grc, wikt:λόγος, λόγος, lógos, lit=word, discourse, or reason) is a term used in Western philosophy, psychology and rhetoric and refers to the appeal to reason that relies on logic or reason, inductive and deductive ...
'', or divine reason, which is active and organizing. The 3rd-century BC Stoic
Chrysippus
Chrysippus of Soli (; grc-gre, Χρύσιππος ὁ Σολεύς, ; ) was a Greek Stoic philosopher. He was a native of Soli, Cilicia, but moved to Athens as a young man, where he became a pupil of the Stoic philosopher Cleanthes. When Clean ...
regarded pneuma as the vehicle of ''logos'' in structuring matter, both in animals and in the physical world. This divine pneuma that is the soul of the cosmos supplies the pneuma in its varying grades for everything in the world, a spherical continuum of matter held together by the orderly power of
Zeus
Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label=Genitive case, genitive Aeolic Greek, Boeotian Aeolic and Doric Greek#Laconian, Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label=Genitive case, genitive el, Δίας, ''D ...
through the causality of the pneuma that pervades it.
Pneuma in its purest form can thus be difficult to distinguish from ''logos'' or the "constructive fire" (''pur technikon'') that drives the cyclical generation and destruction of the Stoic cosmos. When a cycle reaches its end in conflagration (''
ekpyrôsis
Ekpyrosis (; grc, ἐκπύρωσις ''ekpýrōsis'', "conflagration") is a Stoic belief in the periodic destruction of the cosmos by a great conflagration every Great Year. The cosmos is then recreated (palingenesis) only to be destroyed again ...
''), the cosmos becomes pure pneuma from which it regenerates itself.
Christian philosophy
In his Introduction to the 1964 book ''
Meditations
''Meditations'' () is a series of personal writings by Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor from AD 161 to 180, recording his private notes to himself and ideas on Stoic philosophy.
Marcus Aurelius wrote the 12 books of the ''Meditations'' in Koine ...
'', the Anglican priest Maxwell Staniforth discussed the profound impact of
Stoicism
Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy founded by Zeno of Citium in Athens in the early 3rd century Common Era, BCE. It is a philosophy of personal virtue ethics informed by its system of logic and its views on the natural world, asser ...
on
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
. In particular:
Another Stoic concept which offered inspiration to the Church was that of 'divine Spirit'. Cleanthes, wishing to give more explicit meaning to Zeno's 'creative fire', had been the first to hit upon the term ''pneuma'', or 'spirit', to describe it. Like fire, this intelligent 'spirit' was imagined as a tenuous substance akin to a current of air or breath, but essentially possessing the quality of warmth; it was immanent in the universe as God, and in man as the soul and life-giving principle. Clearly it is not a long step from this to the 'Holy Spirit' of Christian theology, the 'Lord and Giver of life', visibly manifested as tongues of fire at Pentecost and ever since associated – in the Christian as in the Stoic mind – with the ideas of vital fire and beneficient warmth.
Philo
Philo of Alexandria (; grc, Φίλων, Phílōn; he, יְדִידְיָה, Yəḏīḏyāh (Jedediah); ), also called Philo Judaeus, was a Hellenistic Jewish philosopher who lived in Alexandria, in the Roman province of Egypt.
Philo's deplo ...
, a 1st-century
Hellenistic Jewish
Hellenistic Judaism was a form of Judaism in classical antiquity that combined Jewish religious tradition with elements of Greek culture. Until the early Muslim conquests of the eastern Mediterranean, the main centers of Hellenistic Judaism were ...
philosopher, commented on the use of , rather than , in the
Septuagint
The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond th ...
translation of . Philo explains that, in his view, ''pneuma'' is for the light breathing of human men while the stronger ''pnoē'' was used for the divine Spirit. ''Pneuma'' is a common word for "spirit" in the
Septuagint
The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond th ...
and the Greek
New Testament
The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...
. At John 3:5, for example, ''pneuma'' is the Greek word translated into English as "spirit": "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit (pneuma), he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." In some translations such as the King James version, however, ''pneuma'' is then translated as "wind" in verse eight, followed by the rendering "Spirit": "The wind (pneuma) bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit (pneuma)."
Ancient Greek medical theory
In
ancient Greek medicine
Ancient Greek medicine was a compilation of theories and practices that were constantly expanding through new ideologies and trials. Many components were considered in ancient Greek medicine, intertwining the spiritual with the physical. Specifi ...
, ''pneuma'' is the form of circulating
air necessary for the systemic functioning of vital organs. It is the material that sustains
consciousness
Consciousness, at its simplest, is sentience and awareness of internal and external existence. However, the lack of definitions has led to millennia of analyses, explanations and debates by philosophers, theologians, linguisticians, and scien ...
in a body. According to
Diocles and
Praxagoras
Praxagoras ( grc, Πραξαγόρας ὁ Κῷος) was a figure of medicine in ancient Greece. He was born on the Greek island of Kos in about 340 BC. Both his father, Nicarchus, and his grandfather were physicians. Very little is known of Prax ...
, the psychic pneuma mediates between the
heart
The heart is a muscular organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as carbon dioxide t ...
, regarded as the seat of
Mind
The mind is the set of faculties responsible for all mental phenomena. Often the term is also identified with the phenomena themselves. These faculties include thought, imagination, memory, will, and sensation. They are responsible for various m ...
in some
physiological
Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical ...
theories of ancient medicine, and the
brain
A brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It is located in the head, usually close to the sensory organs for senses such as vision. It is the most complex organ in a v ...
.
The disciples of
Hippocrates
Hippocrates of Kos (; grc-gre, Ἱπποκράτης ὁ Κῷος, Hippokrátēs ho Kôios; ), also known as Hippocrates II, was a Greek physician of the classical period who is considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history of ...
explained the maintenance of
vital heat to be the function of the breath within the organism. Around 300 BC,
Praxagoras
Praxagoras ( grc, Πραξαγόρας ὁ Κῷος) was a figure of medicine in ancient Greece. He was born on the Greek island of Kos in about 340 BC. Both his father, Nicarchus, and his grandfather were physicians. Very little is known of Prax ...
discovered the distinction between the
arteries and the
veins
Veins are blood vessels in humans and most other animals that carry blood towards the heart. Most veins carry deoxygenated blood from the tissues back to the heart; exceptions are the pulmonary and umbilical veins, both of which carry oxygenated b ...
, although close studies of
vascular anatomy had been ongoing since at least
Diogenes of Apollonia
Diogenes of Apollonia ( ; grc, Διογένης ὁ Ἀπολλωνιάτης, Diogénēs ho Apollōniátēs; 5th century BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher, and was a native of the Milesian colony Apollonia in Thrace. He lived for some ti ...
. In the corpse arteries are empty; hence, in the light of these preconceptions they were declared to be vessels for conveying ''pneuma'' to the different parts of the body. A generation afterwards,
Erasistratus made this the basis of a new theory of
disease
A disease is a particular abnormal condition that negatively affects the structure or function of all or part of an organism, and that is not immediately due to any external injury. Diseases are often known to be medical conditions that a ...
s and their treatment. The ''pneuma'', inhaled from the outside air, rushes through the arteries till it reaches the various centres, especially the
brain
A brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It is located in the head, usually close to the sensory organs for senses such as vision. It is the most complex organ in a v ...
and the
heart
The heart is a muscular organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as carbon dioxide t ...
, and there causes thought and organic movement.
Pneumatic school
The Pneumatic school of
medicine
Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pract ...
(''Pneumatics'', or ''Pneumatici'', el, Πνευματικοί) was an ancient school of medicine in
ancient Greece
Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cult ...
and
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
. They were founded in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
by
Athenaeus of Cilicia
Athenaeus of Attalia ( grc, Ἀθήναιος) (1st century AD), was a physician, and the founder of the Pneumatic school of medicine. He was born in Cilicia, at Attalia according to Galen, or at Tarsus according to Caelius Aurelianus. He was the ...
, in the 1st century AD.
The
Roman era
In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...
was a time when the
Methodic school
The Methodic school of medicine (''Methodics'', ''Methodists'', or ''Methodici'', el, Μεθοδικοί) was a school of medicine in ancient Greece and Rome. The Methodic school arose in reaction to both the Empiric school and the Dogmatic scho ...
had enjoyed its greatest reputation, from which the Pneumatic school differed principally in that, instead of the mixture of primitive
atoms
Every atom is composed of a nucleus and one or more electrons bound to the nucleus. The nucleus is made of one or more protons and a number of neutrons. Only the most common variety of hydrogen has no neutrons.
Every solid, liquid, gas, an ...
, they adopted an active principle of immaterial nature, ''
pneuma'', or spirit. This principle was the cause of
health
Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiza ...
and
disease
A disease is a particular abnormal condition that negatively affects the structure or function of all or part of an organism, and that is not immediately due to any external injury. Diseases are often known to be medical conditions that a ...
. It is from
Galen
Aelius Galenus or Claudius Galenus ( el, Κλαύδιος Γαληνός; September 129 – c. AD 216), often Anglicized as Galen () or Galen of Pergamon, was a Greek physician, surgeon and philosopher in the Roman Empire. Considered to be one of ...
that we learn the doctrines of the founder of the Pneumatic school.
Plato
Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...
and
Aristotle
Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...
had already laid the foundations of the doctrine of ''pneuma'', for which, Aristotle was the first to describe the ways in which the ''pneuma'' is introduced into the body and the sanguineous system. The
Stoics
Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy founded by Zeno of Citium in Athens in the early 3rd century BCE. It is a philosophy of personal virtue ethics informed by its system of logic and its views on the natural world, asserting that th ...
developed the theory even more and applied it to the functions of the body.
Erasistratus and his successors had made the ''pneuma'' act a great part in health and disease. Thus, the theory of the ''pneuma'' was not a new one. The Methodic school, however, appears to have done away with much of the theory. The Pneumatic school, in choosing to oppose the Methodic school, adopted a firmly established principle, and chose the ''
pneuma'' principle of the Stoics.
They thought that
logic
Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating how conclusions follow from premises ...
was indispensable to medicine, and Galen tells us that the Pneumatic school would rather have betrayed their country than renounce their opinions. Athenaeus had also adopted much of the doctrines of the
Peripatetics
The Peripatetic school was a school of philosophy in Ancient Greece. Its teachings derived from its founder, Aristotle (384–322 BC), and ''peripatetic'' is an adjective ascribed to his followers.
The school dates from around 335 BC when Aristo ...
, and besides the doctrine of the ''pneuma'', he developed the theory of the
elements much more than the Methodic school had done. He recognised in the four elements the positive qualities (''poiotes'') of the animal body; but he often regarded them as real substances, and gave to the whole of them the name of ''Nature of Man''. Although the Pneumatici attributed the majority of diseases to the ''pneuma'', they nevertheless paid attention to the mixture of the elements. The union of
heat
In thermodynamics, heat is defined as the form of energy crossing the boundary of a thermodynamic system by virtue of a temperature difference across the boundary. A thermodynamic system does not ''contain'' heat. Nevertheless, the term is al ...
and
moisture was the most suitable for the preservation of health. Heat and dryness give rise to acute diseases, cold and moisture produce
phlegmatic
The four temperament theory is a proto-psychological theory which suggests that there are four fundamental personality types: sanguine, choleric, melancholic, and phlegmatic. Most formulations include the possibility of mixtures among the types w ...
affections, cold and dryness give rise to
melancholy. Everything dries up and becomes cold at the approach of
death
Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...
.
[Galen, ''De Temperam.'', i.]
See also
* ''Pneuma akatharton'',
unclean spirit
*
''Pneuma'' journal, subtitled ''The Journal of the Society for Pentecostal Studies''
*
Pneuma (song)
"Pneuma" is a song by American rock band Tool, released as their second single in April 2020 off of their fifth studio album ''Fear Inoculum''. It peaked at number 15 on the '' Billboard'' Mainstream Rock Songs chart.
Background
The song was firs ...
*
Pneumatic (Gnosticism)
The pneumatics ("spiritual", from Greek , "spirit") were, in Gnosticism, the highest order of humans, the other two orders being psychics and hylics ("matter"). A pneumatic saw itself as escaping the doom of the material world via the transcenden ...
*
Pneumatology
Pneumatology refers to a particular discipline within Christian theology that focuses on the study of the Holy Spirit. The term is derived from the Greek word ''Pneuma'' ( πνεῦμα), which designates "breath" or "spirit" and metaphoricall ...
*
Holy Spirit
In Judaism, the Holy Spirit is the divine force, quality, and influence of God over the Universe or over his creatures. In Nicene Christianity, the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost is the third person of the Trinity. In Islam, the Holy Spirit acts as ...
*
Prana
In yoga, Indian medicine and Indian martial arts, prana ( sa2, प्राण, ; the Sanskrit word for breath, " life force", or "vital principle") permeates reality on all levels including inanimate objects. In Hindu literature, prāṇa is ...
*
Qi
*
Rūḥ
*
Evaporation
Evaporation is a type of vaporization that occurs on the surface of a liquid as it changes into the gas phase. High concentration of the evaporating substance in the surrounding gas significantly slows down evaporation, such as when humidi ...
Notes
References
* Baltzly, Dirk
"Stoicism."''The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy''. Edited by Edward N. Zalta. Spring 2008.
* Inwood, Brad, editor
''The Cambridge Companion to the Stoics.''Cambridge University Press, 2003.
* Sedley, David
"Stoic Physics and Metaphysics."''The Cambridge History of Hellenistic Philosophy''. Cambridge University Press, 2005.
* "Stoicism." ''Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', vol. 9. Taylor & Francis, 1998.
* Sellars, John
''Stoicism''.University of California Press, 2006.
* William Smith, (1857), ''
Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities
''A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities'' is an English language encyclopedia first published in 1842. The second, improved and enlarged, edition appeared in 1848, and there were many revised editions up to 1890. The encyclopedia covered law ...
'', pages 786-7
External links
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{{Ancient Roman medicine
Stoicism
Concepts in ancient Greek metaphysics
Vitalism
New Testament Greek words and phrases
Ancient Greek medicine
Ancient Roman medicine
Obsolete medical theories