Editing Microcosm–macrocosm analogy (section)

==History==
[[File:Paolo Monti - Servizio fotografico (Napoli, 1969) - BEIC 6353768.jpg|thumb|upright=0.75|[[Zeno of Citium]] (c. 334–262 BCE), founder of the Stoic school of philosophy.]]

=== Antiquity ===
Among [[Ancient Greek philosophy|ancient Greek]] and [[Hellenistic philosophy|Hellenistic]] philosophers, notable proponents of the microcosm–macrocosm analogy included [[Anaximander]] ({{circa|610|546 BCE}}),<ref>See, e.g., {{harvnb|Allers|1944}}.</ref> [[Plato]] ({{circa|428 or 424|348 BCE|lk=no}}),<ref>See especially {{harvnb|Olerud|1951}}.</ref> the [[Hippocratic Corpus|Hippocratic authors]] (late 5th or early 4th century BCE and onwards),<ref>See {{harvnb|Kranz|1938}}; {{harvnb|Schluderer|2018}}.</ref> and the [[Stoic physics|Stoics]] (3rd century BCE and onwards).<ref>See {{harvnb|Hahm|1977|loc=63ff.}}</ref> In later periods, the analogy was especially prominent in the works of those philosophers who were heavily influenced by [[Platonism|Platonic]] and Stoic thought, such as [[Philo of Alexandria]] ({{circa|20 BCE|50 CE|lk=no}}),<ref>See, e.g., {{harvnb|Runia|1986|loc=pp. 87, 133, 157, 211, 259, 278, 282, 315, 324, 339, 388, 465–466}}.</ref> the authors of the early Greek ''[[Hermetica]]'' ({{circa|100 BCE–300 CE|lk=no}}),<ref>See {{harvnb|Festugière|1944–1954|loc=vol. I, pp. 92–94, 125–131}}.</ref> and the [[Neoplatonism|Neoplatonists]] (3rd century CE and onwards).<ref>See, e.g., {{harvnb|Wilberding|2006|pp=53–56}}.</ref> The analogy was also employed in [[late antique]] and early medieval religious literature, such as in the ''[[Bundahishn]]'', a [[Zoroastrianism|Zoroastrian]] encyclopedic work, and the ''[[Avot de-Rabbi Nathan]]'', a Jewish [[Rabbinic literature|Rabbinical text]].<ref>{{harvnb|Kraemer|2007}}; {{harvnb|Jacobs|Broydé|1906}}.</ref>

=== Middle Ages ===
[[Medieval philosophy]] was generally dominated by [[Aristotelianism|Aristotle]], who &ndash; despite having been the first<ref>{{harvnb|Kraemer|2007|p=178}}.</ref> to coin the term "microcosm" &ndash; had posited a fundamental and insurmountable difference between the region below the Moon (the [[Sublunary sphere|sublunary world]], consisting of the [[Classical element#Greece|four elements]]) and the region above the Moon (the superlunary world, consisting of a [[Aether (classical element)|fifth element]]). Nevertheless, the microcosm–macrocosm analogy was adopted by a wide variety of medieval thinkers working in different linguistic traditions: the concept of microcosm was known in [[Arabic]] as {{Transliteration|ar|ʿālam ṣaghīr}}, in [[Hebrew]] as {{Transliteration|he|olam katan}}, and in [[Latin]] as {{lang|la|microcosmus}} or {{lang|la|minor mundus}}.<ref>{{harvnb|Kraemer|2007|p=178}}; on the Latin terminology, see {{harvnb|Finckh|1999|p=12}}.</ref> The analogy was elaborated by [[alchemy|alchemists]] such as those writing under the name of [[Jabir ibn Hayyan]] ({{circa|850–950 CE}}),<ref>{{harvnb|Kraus|1942–1943|loc=vol. II, pp. 47, 50}}.</ref> by the anonymous [[Shi'ite]] philosophers known as the [[Encyclopedia of the Brethren of Purity|Ikhwān al-Ṣafāʾ]] ("The Brethren of Purity", {{circa|900–1000|lk=no}}),<ref>See, e.g., {{harvnb|Widengren|1980}}; {{harvnb|Nokso-Koivisto|2014}}; {{harvnb|Krinis|2016}}.</ref> by Jewish theologians and philosophers such as [[Isaac Israeli ben Solomon|Isaac Israeli]] ({{circa|832|932|lk=no}}), [[Saadia Gaon]] (882/892–942), [[Solomon ibn Gabirol|Ibn Gabirol]] (11th century), and [[Judah Halevi]] ({{circa|1075–1141|lk=no}}),<ref>{{harvnb|Jacobs|Broydé|1906}}; {{harvnb|Kraemer|2007}}.</ref> by [[School of Saint Victor|Victorine]] monks such as [[Godfrey of Saint Victor]] (born 1125, author of a treatise called ''Microcosmus''), by the [[Al-Andalus|Andalusian]] mystic [[Ibn Arabi]] (1165–1240),<ref>{{harvnb|Aminrazavi|2009–2021}}.</ref> by the German cardinal [[Nicholas of Cusa]] (1401–1464),<ref>{{harvnb|Miller|2009–2017}}.</ref> and by numerous others.

[[File:Paracelsus.jpg|thumb|upright=0.75|left|[[Paracelsus]] (1494–1541)]]

===Renaissance===
The revival of [[Hermeticism]] and [[Neoplatonism]] in the [[Renaissance]], both of which had reserved a prominent place for the microcosm–macrocosm analogy, also led to a marked rise in popularity of the latter. Some of the most notable proponents of the concept in this period include [[Marsilio Ficino]] (1433 – 1499), [[Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa]] (1486–1535), [[Franciscus Patricius|Francesco Patrizi]] (1529–1597), [[Giordano Bruno]] (1548–1600), and [[Tommaso Campanella]] (1568–1639).<ref>See the discussion in {{harvnb|Allers|1944|pp=386–401}}.</ref> It was also central to the new medical theories propounded by the Swiss physician [[Paracelsus]] (1494–1541) and his many [[Paracelsianism|followers]], most notably [[Robert Fludd]] (1574–1637).<ref>{{harvnb|Debus|1965|loc=pp. 19, 41–42, 86, 114–123, ''et passim''}}.</ref> [[Andreas Vesalius]] (1514–1564) in his anatomy text [[De humani corporis fabrica|''De fabrica'']] wrote that the human body "in many respects corresponds admirably to the universe and for that reason was called the little universe by the ancients."<ref>{{harvnb|O'Malley|1964|p=324}}.</ref>
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