Great chain of being

The great chain of being is a hierarchical structure of all matter and life, thought by medieval Christianity to have been decreed by God. The chain begins with God and descends through angels, humans, animals and plants to minerals.^[1]^[2]^[3]

The great chain of being (from Latin scala naturae 'ladder of being') is a concept derived from Plato, Aristotle (in his Historia Animalium), Plotinus and Proclus.^[4] Further developed during the Middle Ages, it reached full expression in early modern Neoplatonism.^[5]^[6]

^ Lovejoy 1960, p. 59.
^ Adams, Robert Merrihew (1999). Leibniz: Determinist, Theist, Idealist. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 113.
^ Wheeler, L. Kip. "The Chain of Being: Tillyard in a Nutshell". Carson-Newman University. Archived from the original on 16 December 2003. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
^ "Great Chain of Being | Definition, Origin & Facts". Britannica. Archived from the original on June 24, 2015. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
^ "This idea of a great chain of being can be traced to Plato's division of the world into the Forms, which are full beings, and sensible things, which are imitations of the Forms and are both being and not being. Aristotle's teleology recognized a perfect being, and he also arranges all animals by a single natural scale according to the degree of perfection of their souls. The idea of the great chain of being was fully developed in Neoplatonism and in the Middle Ages.", Blackwell Dictionary of Western Philosophy, p. 289 (2004)
^ Edward P. Mahoney, "Lovejoy and the Hierarchy of Being", Journal of the History of Ideas Vol. 48, No 2, pp. 211-230.

[FOOTNOTELovejoy196059-1] Lovejoy 1960, p. 59.

[2] Adams, Robert Merrihew (1999). Leibniz: Determinist, Theist, Idealist. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 113.

[Tillyard_Web-3] Wheeler, L. Kip. "The Chain of Being: Tillyard in a Nutshell". Carson-Newman University. Archived from the original on 16 December 2003. Retrieved 16 November 2019.

[4] "Great Chain of Being | Definition, Origin & Facts". Britannica. Archived from the original on June 24, 2015. Retrieved April 1, 2021.

[5] "This idea of a great chain of being can be traced to Plato's division of the world into the Forms, which are full beings, and sensible things, which are imitations of the Forms and are both being and not being. Aristotle's teleology recognized a perfect being, and he also arranges all animals by a single natural scale according to the degree of perfection of their souls. The idea of the great chain of being was fully developed in Neoplatonism and in the Middle Ages.", Blackwell Dictionary of Western Philosophy, p. 289 (2004)

[6] Edward P. Mahoney, "Lovejoy and the Hierarchy of Being", Journal of the History of Ideas Vol. 48, No 2, pp. 211-230.

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