from the shapes of the human body, specifically those organs associated with the qualities of the soul that prevail in a given historical period. The inwardly perceived effects of some metals correspond to their outward qualities. Therefore, developmental psychology and history, history and paleontology, architecture and anatomy, psychology and chemistry can be at least partly integrated. The metaphysical basis of these connections and thus also the limits of the applicability of this approach are still controversial. It does provide, however, a number of advantages from a pedagogical point of view. Awareness of the links between nature, history and the intimate processes of the human psyche restores lost meaning to things, consolidates the consciousness of objective values and encourages responsibility by following the causation of things into the free core of the human personality. Synthetic knowledge also correlates significantly with creativity and independent judgment. By embedding knowledge in interconnections and ridding it of emotional neutrality it works in accordance with the natural functioning of memory and relieves it of the tiresome cramming of knowledge. 1 Ethics within the edifice of knowledge Knowledge once resembled a cathedral; every piece of knowledge was a stone hewn into a single great edifice, attuned to a coherent style and crowned by a common purpose. Contemporary knowledge resembles a temple devoid of the keystone of the central vault. It disintegrated into a number of diverse and incoherent shelters. They are weakly interconnected and sometimes even obstruct one another. The lost keystone is – man. The Renaissance still understoodman as a focal point where all the forces and elements of the cosmos converge (microcosm). The human physical body is composed of the elements of the mineral kingdom. The forces of growth and reproduction are interweaved in man’s vital body (anima vegetativa), which in the outside world shape various kinds of vegetation. Passions flow within his sentient soul (anima sensitiva), which are manifested within the surrounding nature in animals. Within man himself there was a complete circle of animals, a circle of plants, and a circle of crystals, planets, stars as well as angels; he was the sum total of nature, and nature was man disassembled into individual aspects. Finally, within his spiritual soul (anima intellectiva) man is aware of himself, creates freely and harmonizes all forces into an equilibrium. This spiritual essence makes him the crown of creation exceeding all other realms of nature. Thus man was inwardly akin to the spiritual sources of things; by mastering himself he mastered the causes of the world’s formation, of coming into being and passing away. That is why nothing in the world was alien to him, he could understand everything directly from within his soul, he was linked to all, responsible for all and could affect all. All events 38 (2) Emil Páleš
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MzgxMzI=