Metempsychosis

This article is about the Greek conception of the transmigration of the soul. For the general concept, see Reincarnation.

In philosophy, metempsychosis (Ancient 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]
  1. ^ Schopenhauer, A: "Parerga und Paralipomena" (Eduard Grisebach edition), On Religion, Section 177
  2. ^ Gödel Exhibition: Gödel's Century
  3. ^ Mircea Eliade (1957). The Sacred And The Profane. p. 109.
  4. ^ Villaba, Magdalena (1976). "An Interpretation on the Doctrine of Transmigration". Philippiniana Sacra.
  5. ^ Nietzsche and the Doctrine of Metempsychosis, in J. Urpeth & J. Lippitt, Nietzsche and the Divine, Manchester: Clinamen, 2000
  6. ^ "Masterpieces". National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo. Retrieved 13 February 2016.