Transmigration of the soul
This article is about the Greek conception of the transmigration of the soul. For the general concept, see
Reincarnation .
In philosophy, metempsychosis (Greek : μετεμψύχωσις ) is the transmigration of the soul , especially its reincarnation after death. The term is derived from ancient Greek philosophy , and has been recontextualized by modern philosophers such as Arthur Schopenhauer ,[1] Kurt Gödel ,[2] Mircea Eliade ,[3] and Magdalena Villaba ;[4] otherwise, the word "transmigration" is more appropriate. The word plays a prominent role in James Joyce 's Ulysses and is also associated with Nietzsche .[5] Another term sometimes used synonymously is palingenesis .
A section of Metempsychosis (1923) by Yokoyama Taikan ; a drop of water from the vapours in the sky transforms into a mountain stream, which flows into a great river and on into the sea, whence rises a dragon (pictured) that turns back to vapour; National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo (Important Cultural Property )[6]
It is unclear how the doctrine of metempsychosis arose in Ancient Greece, where it was never a mainstream belief. It is easiest to assume that earlier ideas, which had never been extinguished, were used for religious and philosophical purposes.
^ Schopenhauer, A: "Parerga und Paralipomena" (Eduard Grisebach edition), On Religion, Section 177
^ Gödel Exhibition: Gödel's Century
^ Mircea Eliade (1957). The Sacred And The Profane,p. 109 .
^ Villaba, Magdalena (1976). "An Interpretation on the Doctrine of Transmigration". Philippiniana Sacra .
^ Nietzsche and the Doctrine of Metempsychosis, in J. Urpeth & J. Lippitt, Nietzsche and the Divine , Manchester: Clinamen, 2000
^ "Masterpieces" . National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo . Retrieved 13 February 2016 .