H. P. Grice: The 'anima mundi': the implicata

anima mundi: world soul. Some philosophers argue that if the universe is in harmonious celestial motion, there must an animating principle or soul to control it, just as the human soul controls the human body. Accordingly, the world should be viewed as an animated living organism, the soul of which is the world soul. The idea of a world soul was popular in pre-Socratic philosophy and was well elaborated in Plato’s Timaeus, in which the world is endowed with a soul by a creator or Demiurge. The human soul should be modeled on the world soul to achieve harmony among its different parts. This doctrine of the world soul was developed in Stoicism and Neoplatonism and through them in medieval philosophy. It was revived by Schelling and plays a role in contemporary environmental philosophy.“Already in the most ancient times it was believed that the world was pervaded by an animating principle, called the world-soul.” Schelling, Ideas for a Philosophy of Nature.