macrocosm
American Heritage Dictionary:
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mac·ro·cosm
(măk'rə-kŏz'əm) 
n.
macrocosmically mac'ro·cos'mic·al·ly adv.
n.
- The entire world; the universe.
- A system reflecting on a large scale one of its component systems or parts.
[Medieval Latin macrocosmus : Greek makro-, macro- + Greek kosmos, world.]
macrocosmic mac'ro·cos'mic adj.macrocosmically mac'ro·cos'mic·al·ly adv.
Roget's Thesaurus:
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macrocosm
Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy:
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macrocosm and microcosm
The macrocosm is the world as a whole, with a microcosm being one small part, often mankind, taken as a model of it. Thus the universe may be regarded as a large living organism (see panpsychism). The idea was central to most Greek thought, and especially that of Pythagoras, Plato and subsequent Neoplatonism. In Leibniz the monads are microcosms of the world, since each in itself mirrors the entire universe.
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categories related to 'macrocosm'
- Social Structure and Conditions - macrocosm: model that is a large-scale and complex representation, often of one of its components
Wikipedia on Answers.com:
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Macrocosm and microcosm
"Macrocosm" redirects here. For Star Trek episode, see Macrocosm (Star Trek: Voyager).
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This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. (Consider using more specific cleanup instructions.) Please help improve this article if you can. The talk page may contain suggestions. (January 2010) |
Macrocosm and microcosm is an ancient Greek Neo-Platonic schema of seeing the same patterns reproduced in all levels of the cosmos, from the largest scale (macrocosm or universe-level) all the way down to the smallest scale (microcosm or sub-sub-atomic or even metaphysical-level). In the system the mid-point is Man, who summarizes the cosmos.
The Greeks were philosophically concerned with a rational explanation of everything and saw the repetition of the golden ratio throughout the world and all levels of reality as a step towards this unifying theory. In short, it is the recognition that the same traits appear in entities of many different sizes, from one man to the entire human population.
Macrocosm/microcosm is a Greek compound of μακρο- "Macro-" and μικρο- "Micro-", which are Greek respectively for "large" and "small", and the word κόσμος kósmos which means "order" as well as "world" or "ordered world."
Today, the concept of microcosm has been dominated by sociology to mean a small group of individuals whose behavior is typical of a larger social body encompassing it. A microcosm can be seen as a special kind of epitome. Conversely, a macrocosm is a social body made of smaller compounds.
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Contents
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See also
References
- Republic, Plato, trans. By B. Jowett M.A., Vintage Books, NY. § 435, pg 151
Bibliography
- Theories of Macrocosms and Microcosms in the History of Philosophy, G. P. Conger, NY, 1922, which includes a survey of critical discussions up to 1922.
External links
- Cosmos - an Illustrated Dimensional Journey from microcosmos to macrocosmos - from Digital Nature Agency
- Macrocosm and Microcosm (Chinese views)
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
Translations:
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Macrocosm
Dansk (Danish)
n. - makrokosmos
Nederlands (Dutch)
macrokosmos, universum, grote wereld, iets dat op grote schaal een van zijn onderdelen nabootst
Français (French)
n. - macrocosme
Deutsch (German)
n. - Makrokosmos, Universum
Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - μακρόκοσμος, σύμπαν
Português (Portuguese)
n. - macrocosmo (m)
Русский (Russian)
макрокосм, вселенная
Español (Spanish)
n. - macrocosmo
Svenska (Swedish)
n. - makrokosmos, vidare (större) begrepp
中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
大宇宙, 全域, 大世界, 整体
中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 大宇宙, 全域, 大世界, 整體
한국어 (Korean)
n. - 대우주, 대세계, 전체
日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 大宇宙, 複合体, 総体, 大世界
العربيه (Arabic)
(الاسم) كوني
עברית (Hebrew)
n. - היקום, העולם, מקרוקוסמוס
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American Heritage Dictionary
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Roget's Thesaurus
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary Copyright © 1995 byHoughton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy
The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy. Copyright © 1994, 1996, 2005 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.
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Random House Word Menu
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This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Macrocosm and microcosm.
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