Everlost is a fantasy book published in 2006 by the young adult author Neal Shusterman . The story is the first in the Skinjacker trilogy that takes place in Everlost, the place between life and death.
121-551: Everlost is a place between life and death where some children end up after getting lost in their journey to the afterlife . These lost children, or Afterlights as they are called, are unseen by the living world. The afterlights for the most part cannot interact with the real world and will sink to the Earth's core if they stay still. It is implied that this fate has befallen to a great many afterlights. They can interact with certain objects that are loved so much by their owners that, when
242-426: A cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations. Typically, these traditions locate hell in another dimension or under the Earth's surface and often include entrances to hell from the land of the living. Other afterlife destinations include purgatory and limbo . Traditions that do not conceive of the afterlife as a place of punishment or reward merely describe hell as an abode of
363-556: A loan translation of Greek cosmos 'orderly arrangement'. While the Germanic word thus reflects a mythological notion of a "domain of Man" (compare Midgard ), presumably as opposed to the divine sphere on the one hand and the chthonic sphere of the underworld on the other, the Greco-Latin term expresses a notion of creation as an act of establishing order out of chaos . Different fields often work with quite different conceptions of
484-423: A beginning and an end. One difficulty in investigating the world is that we never encounter it since it is not just one more thing that appears to us. This is why Fink uses the notion of play or playing to elucidate the nature of the world. He sees play as a symbol of the world that is both part of it and that represents it. Play usually comes with a form of imaginary play-world involving various things relevant to
605-421: A certain culture or religion. The idea that there exist many different worlds is found in various fields. For example, theories of modality talk about a plurality of possible worlds and the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics carries this reference even in its name. Talk of different worlds is also common in everyday language, for example, with reference to the world of music, the world of business,
726-457: A contradiction, like a world in which Hillary Clinton both won and lost the 2016 US election. Both possible and impossible worlds have in common the idea that they are totalities of their constituents. Within phenomenology , worlds are defined in terms of horizons of experiences. When we perceive an object, like a house, we do not just experience this object at the center of our attention but also various other objects surrounding it, given in
847-532: A cosmic egg. Eschatology refers to the science or doctrine of the last things or of the end of the world. It is traditionally associated with religion, specifically with the Abrahamic religions . In this form, it may include teachings both of the end of each individual human life and of the end of the world as a whole. But it has been applied to other fields as well, for example, in the form of physical eschatology, which includes scientifically based speculations about
968-406: A global viewpoint. It deals less with individual nations and civilizations, which it usually approaches at a high level of abstraction. Instead, it concentrates on wider regions and zones of interaction, often interested in how people, goods and ideas move from one region to another. It includes comparisons of different societies and civilizations as well as considering wide-ranging developments with
1089-509: A hideous monster, reflective of his anger. Mary, also known by others as the Sky Witch, had been lying to the children. She stole the coins that all Afterlights invariably have when they wake up. The coins allow them to leave Everlost when they are ready, but Mary misguidedly believes that the light at the end of the tunnel is malicious and that children should stay in Everlost forever. Nick receives
1210-450: A long-term global impact like the process of industrialization. Contemporary world history is dominated by three main research paradigms determining the periodization into different epochs. One is based on productive relations between humans and nature. The two most important changes in history in this respect were the introduction of agriculture and husbandry concerning the production of food, which started around 10,000 to 8,000 BCE and
1331-420: A lower ontological status to the sensible world, which only imitates the world of forms. This is due to the fact that physical things exist only to the extent that they participate in the forms that characterize them, while the forms themselves have an independent manner of existence. In this sense, the sensible world is a mere replication of the perfect exemplars found in the world of forms: it never lives up to
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#17328527531351452-441: A man, to bring back his soul from the pit to... the light of the living' (Job 33:29–30)." Reincarnation, called gilgul , became popular in folk belief and is found in much Yiddish literature among Ashkenazi Jews . Among a few kabbalists, it was posited that some human souls could end up being reincarnated into non-human bodies. These ideas were found in several Kabbalistic works from the 13th century and among many mystics in
1573-512: A more ascetic lifestyle concerned with the afterlife. Other strands in Islam recommend a balanced approach. In Mandaean cosmology , the world or earthly realm is known as Tibil . It is separated from the World of Light ( alma d-nhūra ) above and the World of Darkness ( alma d-hšuka ) below by aether ( ayar ). A worldview is a comprehensive representation of the world and our place in it. As
1694-519: A more diverse set of ideas developed. In some texts, Sheol is considered to be the home of both the righteous and the wicked, separated into respective compartments; in others, it was considered a place of punishment, meant for the wicked dead alone. When the Hebrew scriptures were translated into Greek in ancient Alexandria around 200 BC, the word " Hades " (the Greek underworld ) was substituted for Sheol. This
1815-489: A period of reflection on their earthly actions and are made aware of what they have done wrong. Some view this period as "re-schooling", with the soul gaining wisdom as one's errors are reviewed. Others view this period as spiritual discomfort caused by past wrongs. At the end of this period, not longer than one year, the soul then takes its place in the world to come. Although discomforts are made part of certain Jewish conceptions of
1936-412: A representation, it is a subjective perspective of the world and thereby different from the world it represents. All higher animals need to represent their environment in some way in order to navigate it. But it has been argued that only humans possess a representation encompassing enough to merit the term "worldview". Philosophers of worldviews commonly hold that the understanding of any object depends on
2057-470: A single four-dimensional manifold called spacetime . This can be seen in special relativity in relation to the Minkowski metric , which includes both spatial and temporal components in its definition of distance. General relativity goes one step further by integrating the concept of mass into the concept of spacetime as its curvature. Quantum cosmology uses a classical notion of spacetime and conceives
2178-552: A single hypothesis that promises to solve all the problems of our existence we may encounter. On this interpretation, the term is closely associated to the worldviews given by different religions. Worldviews offer orientation not just in theoretical matters but also in practical matters. For this reason, they usually include answers to the question of the meaning of life and other evaluative components about what matters and how we should act. A worldview can be unique to one individual but worldviews are usually shared by many people within
2299-410: A soul achieves Moksha or Nirvana . Any place of existence, either of humans, souls or deities, outside the tangible world (heaven, hell, or other) is referred to as otherworld . Hell , in many religious and folkloric traditions, is a place of torment and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hell as an eternal destination , while religions with
2420-648: A spokesman for the Egyptian Culture Ministry claimed it had unearthed a large red granite door in Luxor with inscriptions by User , a powerful adviser to the 18th Dynasty Queen Hatshepsut who ruled between 1479 BC and 1458 BC, the longest of any woman. It believes the false door is a 'door to the Afterlife'. According to the archaeologists, the door was reused in a structure in Roman Egypt . The Greek god Hades
2541-441: A view, God has absolute, ultimate reality in contrast to the lower ontological status ascribed to the world. God's involvement in the world is often understood along the lines of a personal, benevolent God who looks after and guides His creation. Deists agree with theists that God created the world but deny any subsequent, personal involvement in it. Pantheists reject the separation between God and world. Instead, they claim that
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#17328527531352662-505: A view, they can even be seen as belonging to the actual world. Another way to conceive possible worlds, made famous by David Lewis , is as concrete entities. On this conception, there is no important difference between the actual world and possible worlds: both are conceived as concrete, inclusive and spatiotemporally connected. The only difference is that the actual world is the world we live in, while other possible worlds are not inhabited by us but by our counterparts . Everything within
2783-476: A whole, or with an international or intercontinental scope. In this sense, world history refers to the history of humanity as a whole, and world politics is the discipline of political science studying issues that transcend nations and continents. Other examples include terms such as " world religion ", " world language ", " world government ", " world war ", " world population ", " world economy ", or " world championship ". The English word world comes from
2904-431: A world is spatiotemporally connected to everything else but the different worlds do not share a common spacetime: They are spatiotemporally isolated from each other. This is what makes them separate worlds. It has been suggested that, besides possible worlds, there are also impossible worlds. Possible worlds are ways things could have been , so impossible worlds are ways things could not have been . Such worlds involve
3025-399: A world-object is simple in the sense that it does not have any genuine parts. For this reason, it has also been referred to as "blobject" since it lacks an internal structure like a blob. Priority monism allows that there are other concrete objects besides the world. But it holds that these objects do not have the most fundamental form of existence, that they somehow depend on the existence of
3146-400: A worldview constituting the background on which this understanding can take place. This may affect not just our intellectual understanding of the object in question but the experience of it in general. It is therefore impossible to assess one's worldview from a neutral perspective since this assessment already presupposes the worldview as its background. Some hold that each worldview is based on
3267-516: Is also known as rebirth or transmigration and is part of the Saṃsāra /karma doctrine of cyclic existence. Samsara refers to the process in which souls ( jivas ) go through a sequence of human and animal forms. Traditional Hinduism teaches that each life helps the soul (jivas) learn until the soul becomes purified to the point of liberation . All major Indian religions , namely Buddhism , Hinduism , Jainism , and Sikhism have their own interpretations of
3388-689: Is an "ancient, mainstream belief in Judaism". The Zohar makes frequent and lengthy references to reincarnation. Onkelos , a righteous convert and authoritative commentator of the same period, explained the verse, "Let Reuben live and not die ..." (Deuteronomy 33:6) to mean that Reuben should merit the World to Come directly and not have to die again as a result of being reincarnated. Torah scholar, commentator and kabbalist, Nachmanides (Ramban 1195–1270), attributed Job's suffering to reincarnation, as hinted in Job's saying "God does all these things twice or three times with
3509-618: Is captured by the McGill, a grotesque monster who controls a ship full of Afterlights who fear him. The McGill has taken hundreds of Afterlights, including Nick and Lief/Troy prisoner. They are all hung by their ankles like pieces of meat. Since fortune cookies in Everlost always tell the truth, McGill believes he can come back to life if he collects a thousand souls. Allie can manipulate the McGill and grow close to him as she attempts to save Nick and Lief. She makes him think that she can teach him to skinjack, even though only those who come to Everlost with
3630-457: Is common for theories of modality to posit the existence of a plurality of possible worlds. But Goodman's theory is different since it posits a plurality not of possible but of actual worlds. Such a position is in danger of involving a contradiction: there cannot be a plurality of actual worlds if worlds are defined as maximally inclusive wholes. This danger may be avoided by interpreting Goodman's world-concept not as maximally inclusive wholes in
3751-413: Is commonly defined as "the totality of all space and time; all that is, has been, and will be". Theories of modality talk of possible worlds as complete and consistent ways how things could have been. Phenomenology , starting from the horizon of co-given objects present in the periphery of every experience, defines the world as the biggest horizon, or the "horizon of all horizons". In philosophy of mind ,
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3872-402: Is commonly used in contrast to the term "mind" as that which is represented by the mind. This is sometimes expressed by stating that there is a gap between mind and world and that this gap needs to be overcome for representation to be successful. One problem in philosophy of mind is to explain how the mind is able to bridge this gap and to enter into genuine mind-world-relations, for example, in
3993-486: Is different for each of us, and notwithstanding that we move about in a common world". "World" is one of the key terms in Eugen Fink 's philosophy. He thinks that there is a misguided tendency in western philosophy to understand the world as one enormously big thing containing all the small everyday things we are familiar with. He sees this view as a form of forgetfulness of the world and tries to oppose it by what he calls
4114-505: Is known in Greek mythology as the king of the underworld , a place where souls live after death. The Greek god Hermes , the messenger of the gods, would take the dead soul of a person to the underworld (sometimes called Hades or the House of Hades). Hermes would leave the soul on the banks of the River Styx , the river between life and death. Charon , also known as the ferry-man, would take
4235-421: Is more complex than a mere balance of power since more different agents and interests are involved in its production. Constructivism ascribes more importance to the agency of individual humans than realism and liberalism. It understands the social world as a construction of the people living in it. This leads to an emphasis on the possibility of change. If the international system is an anarchy of nation-states, as
4356-576: Is no reference to reincarnation in the Talmud or any prior writings, according to rabbis such as Avraham Arieh Trugman, reincarnation is recognized as being part and parcel of Jewish tradition. Trugman explains that it is through oral tradition that the meanings of the Torah, its commandments, and stories are known and understood. The classic work of Jewish mysticism, the Zohar, is quoted liberally in all Jewish learning; in
4477-452: Is not uncommon among many Jews, including Orthodox. Other well-known rabbis who are reincarnationists include Yonassan Gershom , Abraham Isaac Kook , Talmud scholar Adin Steinsaltz, DovBer Pinson, David M. Wexelman, Zalman Schachter , and many others. Reincarnation is cited by authoritative Biblical commentators, including Ramban (Nachmanides), Menachem Recanti, and Rabbenu Bachya. Among
4598-507: Is reflected in the New Testament where Hades is both the underworld of the dead and the personification of the evil it represents. The Talmud offers several thoughts relating to the afterlife. After death, the soul is brought for judgment. Those who have led pristine lives immediately enter the Olam Haba or world to come . Most do not enter the world to come immediately but experience
4719-589: Is sometimes termed the Neolithic Revolution , and the Industrial Revolution , which started around 1760 CE and involved the transition from manual to industrial manufacturing. Another paradigm, focusing on culture and religion instead, is based on Karl Jaspers ' theories about the Axial Age , a time in which various new forms of religious and philosophical thoughts appeared in several separate parts of
4840-800: Is the author of hundreds of books about living in Everlost. She lives with the children under her care in the destroyed World Trade Center , which exists because things that are much beloved in the world can cross into Everlost when they are destroyed. They settle down, but Allie is not content. Allie notices other Afterlights at the Twin Towers keep repeating and doing the same thing every day, becoming stuck in ruts. Allie sets out with Nick and Lief to see whether he has special powers and they meet The Haunter. Allie gets Lief and Nick captured by The Haunter and learns that she can pick up living things and also possess living people , or "Skinjack". Allie explores her power while Nick begins to discover his own purpose. Allie
4961-640: Is the conscious self aware of the world of prakriti and does not causally interact with it. A conception of the world is present in Advaita Vedanta , the monist school among the Vedanta schools. Unlike the realist position defended in Samkhya philosophy, Advaita Vedanta sees the world of multiplicity as an illusion, referred to as Maya . This illusion includes impression of existing as separate experiencing selfs called Jivas . Instead, Advaita Vedanta teaches that on
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5082-431: Is the name given to the belief that the world, in all its vanity, is nothing more than a futile attempt to hide from God by stifling our desire for the good and the holy. This view has been characterised as a "pastoral of fear" by historian Jean Delumeau . " The world, the flesh, and the devil " is a traditional division of the sources of temptation . Orbis Catholicus is a Latin phrase meaning "Catholic world", per
5203-411: Is the totality of entities, the whole of reality , or everything that exists . The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique, while others talk of a "plurality of worlds". Some treat the world as one simple object , while others analyze the world as a complex made up of parts. In scientific cosmology , the world or universe
5324-421: Is understood in a sense in this tradition including physical and mental aspects. This is reflected in the doctrine of tattvas , according to which prakriti is made up of 23 principles or elements of reality. These principles include physical elements, like water or earth, and mental aspects, like intelligence or sense-impressions. The relation between purusha and prakriti is conceived as 1 of observation: purusha
5445-603: The Fields of Aaru , Osiris demanded work as restitution for the protection he provided. Statues were placed in the tombs to serve as substitutes for the deceased. Arriving at one's reward in afterlife was a demanding ordeal, requiring a sin-free heart and the ability to recite the spells, passwords, and formulae of the Book of the Dead . In the Hall of Two Truths, the deceased's heart was weighed against
5566-474: The Hebrew Bible , is a place of darkness ( Job 10 :21–22) to which all the dead go—both the righteous and the unrighteous—regardless of the moral choices made in life (Genesis 35:37; Book of Ezekiel 32; Isaiah 16; Job 30 :23), a place of stillness ( Psalm 88 :13, 94 :17; Ecclesiastes 9:10), at the longest possible distance from Heaven ( Job 11 :8; Amos 9 :2; Psalm 139 :8). The inhabitants of Sheol were
5687-472: The Indian religions , the nature of the continued existence is determined directly by the actions of the individual in the ended life. Theist immortalists generally believe some afterlife awaits people when they die. Members of some generally non-theistic religions believe in an afterlife without reference to a deity. Many religions, such as Christianity , Islam , and various pagan belief systems, believe in
5808-599: The Old English weorold . The Old English is a reflex of the Common Germanic * weraldiz , a compound of weraz 'man' and aldiz 'age', thus literally meaning roughly 'age of man'; this word led to Old Frisian warld , Old Saxon werold , Old Dutch werolt , Old High German weralt , and Old Norse verǫld . The corresponding word in Latin is mundus , literally 'clean, elegant', itself
5929-499: The Rosh and Leon de Modena . Saadia Gaon, in Emunoth ve-Deoth (Hebrew: "beliefs and opinions"), concludes Section VI with a refutation of the doctrine of metempsychosis (reincarnation). While rebutting reincarnation, Saadia Gaon further states that Jews who hold to reincarnation have adopted non-Jewish beliefs. By no means do all Jews today believe in reincarnation, but belief in reincarnation
6050-447: The Shu feather of truth and justice taken from the headdress of the goddess Ma'at . If the heart was lighter than the feather, they could pass on, but if it were heavier they would be devoured by the demon Ammit . Egyptians also believed that being mummified and put in a sarcophagus (an ancient Egyptian "coffin" carved with complex symbols and designs, as well as pictures and hieroglyphs)
6171-569: The dead live again in the Fields of Yalu and accompany the Sun on its daily ride. Due to the dangers the afterlife posed, the Book of the Dead was placed in the tomb with the body as well as food, jewelry, and 'curses'. They also used the "opening of the mouth". Ancient Egyptian civilization was based on religion. The belief in the rebirth after death became the driving force behind funeral practices; for them, death
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#17328527531356292-415: The will of God . Some believe in the possibility of a heaven on Earth in a world to come . In Hinduism , heaven is termed Svarga loka . There are seven positive regions and seven negative regions to which the soul can go after death. After completing its stay in the respective region, the soul is subjected to rebirth in different living forms according to its karma . This cycle can be broken after
6413-406: The "cosmological difference": the difference between the world and the inner-worldly things it contains. On his view, the world is the totality of the inner-worldly things that transcends them. It is itself groundless but it provides a ground for things. It therefore cannot be identified with a mere container. Instead, the world gives appearance to inner-worldly things, it provides them with a place,
6534-583: The "shades" ( rephaim ), entities without personality or strength. Under some circumstances, they were thought to be able to be contacted by the living (as the Witch of Endor contacts the shade of Samuel for Saul ), but such practices were forbidden ( Deuteronomy 18:10). Whereas the Hebrew Bible appears to describe Sheol as the permanent place of the dead, in the Second Temple period (roughly 500 BC – 70 AD),
6655-452: The 2016 US election, but she could have won them. So there is a possible world in which she did. There is a vast number of possible worlds, one corresponding to each such difference, no matter how small or big, as long as no outright contradictions are introduced this way. Possible worlds are often conceived as abstract objects, for example, in terms of non-obtaining states of affairs or as maximally consistent sets of propositions. On such
6776-557: The Earth, looking down at the small planet, from far away. In Book VI of Virgil 's Aeneid , the hero, Aeneas , travels to the underworld to see his father. By the River Styx, he sees the souls of those not given a proper burial, forced to wait by the river until someone buries them. While down there, along with the dead, he is shown the place where the wrongly convicted reside, the fields of sorrow where those who committed suicide and now regret it reside, including Aeneas' former lover,
6897-708: The World in Eighty Days", the term "world" refers to the earth while in the colonial expression "the New World " it refers to the landmass of North and South America. Cosmogony is the field that studies the origin or creation of the world. This includes both scientific cosmogony and creation myths found in various religions. The dominant theory in scientific cosmogony is the Big Bang theory , according to which both space, time and matter have their origin in one initial singularity occurring about 13.8 billion years ago. This singularity
7018-524: The Zohar, the idea of reincarnation is mentioned repeatedly. Trugman states that in the last five centuries, the concept of reincarnation, which until then had been a much-hidden tradition within Judaism, was given open exposure. Shraga Simmons commented that within the Bible itself, the idea [of reincarnation] is intimated in Deut. 25:5–10, Deut. 33:6 and Isaiah 22:14, 65:6. Yirmiyahu Ullman wrote that reincarnation
7139-448: The ability can. The real identity of the McGill is revealed—he is a boy named Mikey McGill, the younger brother of Mary Hightower (really Megan McGill). Mikey and Megan died at the same time and after they awoke as Afterlights they went to their home. There, Megan watched as Mikey sank into the earth. However, unbeknownst to her Mikey was able to claw his way out of the center of the Earth through pure force of will, but over time evolved into
7260-416: The absolute sense but in relation to its corresponding world-version: a world contains all and only the entities that its world-version describes. Mythological cosmologies depict the world as centered on an axis mundi and delimited by a boundary such as a world ocean , a world serpent or similar. Hinduism constitutes a family of religious-philosophical views. These views present perspectives on
7381-527: The afterlife's planes of existence (before the silver cord is broken), followed by a judgment , more akin to a final review or end report over one's life. Heaven , the heavens, Seven Heavens , pure lands , Tian , Jannah , Valhalla , or the Summerland , is a common religious, cosmological , or transcendent place where beings such as gods , angels , jinn , saints , or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned , or live. According to
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#17328527531357502-432: The afterlife, the concept of eternal damnation is not a tenet of the Jewish afterlife. According to the Talmud, extinction of the soul is reserved for a far smaller group of malicious and evil leaders whose very evil deeds go way beyond norms or who lead large groups of people to utmost evil. This is also part of Maimonides' 13 principles of faith . Maimonides describes the Olam Haba in spiritual terms, relegating
7623-500: The beliefs about reincarnation that were characteristic of neoplatonism , Orphism , Hermeticism , Manicheanism , and Gnosticism of the Roman era as well as the Indian religions have been the subject of scholarly research. Unity Church and its founder Charles Fillmore teach reincarnation. Rosicrucians speak of a life review period occurring immediately after death and before entering
7744-511: The beliefs of some religions, heavenly beings can descend to earth or incarnate , and earthly beings can ascend to heaven in the afterlife, or in exceptional cases, enter heaven alive. Heaven is often described as a "higher place", the holiest place, a paradise , in contrast to hell or the underworld or the "low places", and universally or conditionally accessible by earthly beings according to various standards of divinity , goodness , piety , faith or other virtues or right beliefs or
7865-474: The complexity involved in formulating such explanations. These theories are sometimes divided into realism, liberalism and constructivism. Realists see nation-states as the main actors in world politics. They constitute an anarchical international system without any overarching power to control their behavior. They are seen as sovereign agents that, determined by human nature, act according to their national self-interest. Military force may play an important role in
7986-537: The context of the history of the universe as a whole. It starts with the Big Bang and traces the formation of galaxies, the Solar System , the Earth, its geological eras, the evolution of life and humans until the present day. World politics, also referred to as global politics or international relations , is the discipline of political science studying issues of interest to the world that transcend nations and continents. It aims to explain complex patterns found in
8107-515: The dead , the grave, a neutral place (for example, Sheol or Hades ) located under the surface of Earth. The afterlife played an important role in Ancient Egyptian religion , and its belief system is one of the earliest known in recorded history. When the body died, parts of its soul known as ka (body double) and the ba (personality) would go to the Kingdom of the Dead. While the soul dwelt in
8228-527: The dead: the faithful saints who await resurrection in Paradise , the merely virtuous who await their reward, the wicked who await punishment, and the wicked who have already been punished and will not be resurrected on Judgment Day. The Book of Enoch is considered apocryphal by most denominations of Christianity and all of Judaism. The book of 2 Maccabees clearly describes the dead waiting for future resurrection and judgment, along with prayers and offerings for
8349-506: The deceased to alleviate their sins. The author of the Gospel of Luke recounts the story of Lazarus and the rich man , which shows people in Hades awaiting the resurrection either in comfort or torment. The author of the Book of Revelation writes about God and the angels versus Satan and demons in an epic battle at the end of times when all souls are judged. There is mention of ghostly bodies of
8470-569: The ensuing struggle for power between states, but diplomacy and cooperation are also key mechanisms for nations to achieve their goals. Liberalists acknowledge the importance of states but they also emphasize the role of transnational actors, like the United Nations or the World Trade Organization . They see humans as perfectible and stress the role of democracy in this process. The emergent order in world politics, on this perspective,
8591-456: The entire soul or spirit, which carries with it one's personal identity. In some views, this continued existence takes place in a spiritual realm, while in others, the individual may be reborn into this world and begin the life cycle over again in a process referred to as reincarnation , likely with no memory of what they have done in the past. In this latter view, such rebirths and deaths may take place over and over again continuously until
8712-460: The essential features associated with the term "world". Some conceptions see the world as unique: there can be no more than one world. Others talk of a "plurality of worlds". Some see worlds as complex things composed of many substances as their parts while others hold that worlds are simple in the sense that there is only one substance: the world as a whole. Some characterize worlds in terms of objective spacetime while others define them relative to
8833-439: The expression Urbi et Orbi , and refers to that area of Christendom under papal supremacy . In Islam, the term "dunya" is used for the world. Its meaning is derived from the root word "dana", a term for "near". It is associated with the temporal, sensory world and earthly concerns, i.e. with this world in contrast to the spiritual world . Religious teachings warn of a tendency to seek happiness in this world and advise
8954-423: The far future of the universe. According to some models, there will be a Big Crunch in which the whole universe collapses back into a singularity, possibly resulting in a second Big Bang afterward. But current astronomical evidence seems to suggest that our universe will continue to expand indefinitely. World history studies the world from a historical perspective. Unlike other approaches to history, it employs
9075-420: The form of perception, knowledge or action. This is necessary for the world to be able to rationally constrain the activity of the mind. According to a realist position, the world is something distinct and independent from the mind. Idealists conceive of the world as partially or fully determined by the mind. Immanuel Kant 's transcendental idealism , for example, posits that the spatiotemporal structure of
9196-595: The future heroes of Rome who will live if Aeneas fulfills his destiny in founding the city. Other eschatological views populate the ancient-Greek worldview. For instance, Plato argued for reincarnation in several dialogues, including the Timaeus . The Poetic and Prose Eddas , the oldest sources for information on the Norse concept of the afterlife, vary in their description of the several realms that are described as falling under this topic. The most well-known are: Sheol , in
9317-480: The horizon present in each experience. These different characterizations are not always exclusive: it may be possible to combine some without leading to a contradiction. Most of them agree that worlds are unified totalities. Monism is a thesis about oneness: that only one thing exists in a certain sense. The denial of monism is pluralism , the thesis that, in a certain sense, more than one thing exists. There are many forms of monism and pluralism, but in relation to
9438-474: The idea of reincarnation. The human idea of reincarnation is found in many diverse ancient cultures, and a belief in rebirth/ metempsychosis was held by historic Greek figures, such as Pythagoras and Plato . It is a common belief of various ancient and modern religions, such as Spiritism , theosophy , and Eckankar . It is found as well in many tribal societies around the world, in places such as Australia, East Asia, Siberia , and South America. Although
9559-439: The individual gains entry to a spiritual realm or otherworld . Major views on the afterlife derive from religion, esotericism , and metaphysics . Some belief systems, such as those in the Abrahamic tradition , hold that the dead go to a specific place (e.g., paradise or hell ) after death, as determined by their god, based on their actions and beliefs during life. In contrast, in systems of reincarnation, such as those of
9680-509: The late 16th century. Martin Buber 's early collection of stories of the Baal Shem Tov 's life includes several that refer to people reincarnating in successive lives. Among well-known (generally non-kabbalist or anti-kabbalist) rabbis who rejected the idea of reincarnation are Saadia Gaon , David Kimhi , Hasdai Crescas , Yedayah Bedershi (early 14th century), Joseph Albo , Abraham ibn Daud ,
9801-567: The majority of denominations within the Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam do not believe that individuals reincarnate, particular groups within these religions do refer to reincarnation; these groups include the mainstream historical and contemporary followers of Kabbalah , the Cathars , Alawites , the Druze , and the Rosicrucians . The historical relations between these sects and
9922-465: The many volumes of Yitzchak Luria, most of which come down from the pen of his primary disciple, Chaim Vital, are insights explaining issues related to reincarnation. His Shaar HaGilgulim ("The Gates of Reincarnation") is a book devoted exclusively to the subject of reincarnation in Judaism. Rabbi Naftali Silberberg of The Rohr Jewish Learning Institute notes that "Many ideas that originate in other religions and belief systems have been popularized in
10043-667: The media and are taken for granted by unassuming Jews." Mainstream Christianity professes belief in the Nicene Creed , and English versions of the Nicene Creed in current use include the phrase: "We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come." When questioned by the Sadducees about the resurrection of the dead (in a context relating to who one's spouse would be if one had been married several times in life), Jesus said that marriage would be irrelevant after
10164-422: The most fundamental level of reality, referred to as Brahman , there exists no plurality or difference. All there is is 1 all-encompassing self: Atman . Ignorance is seen as the source of this illusion, which results in bondage to the world of mere appearances. Liberation is possible in the course of overcoming this illusion by acquiring the knowledge of Brahman, according to Advaita Vedanta. Contemptus mundi
10285-446: The nature and role of the world. Samkhya philosophy, for example, is a metaphysical dualism that understands reality as comprising 2 parts: purusha and prakriti . The term "purusha" stands for the individual conscious self that each of "us" possesses. Prakriti, on the other hand, is the 1 world inhabited by all these selves. Samkhya understands this world as a world of matter governed by the law of cause and effect. The term "matter"
10406-410: The nickname "Chocolate Ogre" because of the chocolate stain on his face, and Mary spreads rumors about how he sends Afterlights away by luring them in with the smell of chocolate. Allie outsmarts the McGill, who is unmasked by Mary and returned to the form of a human boy when Mary shows a picture of him. Allie, traveling home sinks through a bridge but is later saved by Mikey, who agrees to accompany her
10527-420: The notion of a plurality of worlds is to restrict the sense in which worlds are totalities. On this view, worlds are not totalities in an absolute sense. This might be even understood in the sense that, strictly speaking, there are no worlds at all. Another approach understands worlds in a schematic sense: as context-dependent expressions that stand for the current domain of discourse. So in the expression "Around
10648-411: The object breaks, it crosses over to Everlost, unbroken, and is given a place there for eternity. The same is for certain places that were destroyed (the twin towers are used as an example) that were loved and cherished by many people and will never be forgotten. There are no adults in Everlost presumably because they know where they are going. Nick and Allie, who have just awoken in a ghostly parallel to
10769-617: The original. In the allegory of the cave , Plato compares the physical things we are familiar with to mere shadows of the real things. But not knowing the difference, the prisoners in the cave mistake the shadows for the real things. Two definitions that were both put forward in the 1920s, however, suggest the range of available opinion. "The world is everything that is the case", wrote Ludwig Wittgenstein in his influential Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus , first published in 1921. Martin Heidegger , meanwhile, argued that "the surrounding world
10890-403: The periphery. The term "horizon" refers to these co-given objects, which are usually experienced only in a vague, indeterminate manner. The perception of a house involves various horizons, corresponding to the neighborhood, the city, the country, the Earth, etc. In this context, the world is the biggest horizon or the "horizon of all horizons". It is common among phenomenologists to understand
11011-506: The play. But just like the play is more than the imaginary realities appearing in it so the world is more than the actual things appearing in it. The concept of worlds plays a central role in Nelson Goodman 's late philosophy. He argues that we need to posit different worlds in order to account for the fact that there are different incompatible truths found in reality. Two truths are incompatible if they ascribe incompatible properties to
11132-492: The prophesied physical resurrection to the status of a future miracle unrelated to the afterlife or the Messianic era . According to Maimonides, an afterlife continues for the soul of every human being: soul now separated from the body in which it was "housed" during its earthly existence. The Zohar describes Gehenna not as a place of punishment for the wicked but as a place of spiritual purification for souls. Although there
11253-414: The prophets and the transfiguration . The non-canonical Acts of Paul and Thecla speak of the efficacy of prayer for the dead so that they might be "translated to a state of happiness". Hippolytus of Rome pictures the underworld ( Hades ) as a place where the righteous dead, waiting in the bosom of Abraham for their resurrection, rejoice at their future prospect; the unrighteous are tormented at
11374-451: The real world, are saved by a boy named Lief, who tells them that they are called "Afterlights" who cannot be seen by the living. They are somewhat like ghosts and retain the exact appearance they had when they died. He warns them of a dreaded and evil monster, the McGill, and Johnnie-O, and the altar boys before they make their way to New York City. There, they meet Mary Hightower, the "mother" of Afterlights who keeps many Afterlights safe and
11495-414: The rest of the way to her home. The book Everlost has won the following awards: Afterlife The afterlife or life after death is a purported existence in which the essential part of an individual's stream of consciousness or identity continues to exist after the death of their physical body. The surviving essential aspect varies between belief systems; it may be some partial element, or
11616-582: The resurrection as the resurrected will be like the angels in Heaven. Jesus also maintained that the time would come when the dead would hear the voice of the Son of God , and all who were in the tombs would come out; those who have heard his "[commandments] and believes in the one who sent [Him]" to the "resurrection of life", but those who do not to the "resurrection of condemnation". The Book of Enoch describes Sheol as divided into four compartments for four types of
11737-453: The same thing. This happens, for example, when we assert both that the earth moves and that the earth is at rest. These incompatible truths correspond to two different ways of describing the world: heliocentrism and geocentrism . Goodman terms such descriptions "world versions". He holds a correspondence theory of truth : a world version is true if it corresponds to a world. Incompatible true world versions correspond to different worlds. It
11858-435: The sight of the " lake of unquenchable fire " into which they are destined to be cast. Gregory of Nyssa discusses the long-before-believed possibility of purification of souls after death. Pope Gregory I repeats the concept, articulated over a century earlier by Gregory of Nyssa, that the saved suffer purification after death. In connection with this, he wrote of "purgatorial flames." World#Religion The world
11979-542: The social world that are often related to the pursuit of power, order and justice, usually in the context of globalization . It focuses not just on the relations between nation-states but also considers other transnational actors, like multinational corporations, terrorist groups, or non-governmental organizations. For example, it tries to explain events like 9/11 , the 2003 war in Iraq or the financial crisis of 2007–2008 . Various theories have been proposed in order to deal with
12100-427: The soul across the river to Hades, if the soul had gold: Upon burial, the family of the dead soul would put coins under the deceased's tongue. Once crossed, the soul would be judged by Aeacus , Rhadamanthus and King Minos . The soul would be sent to Elysium , Tartarus , or Asphodel Fields . The Elysian Fields were for the ones that lived pure lives. It consisted of green fields, valleys and mountains, everyone there
12221-419: The soul's existence in another world, while others, like many forms of Hinduism and Buddhism , believe in reincarnation. In both cases, these religions hold that one's status in the afterlife is determined by their conduct during life. Reincarnation is the philosophical or religious concept that an aspect of a living being starts a new life in a different physical body or form after each death. This concept
12342-441: The start of the twentieth century, Plato is well known for his theory of forms , which posits the existence of two different worlds: the sensible world and the intelligible world. The sensible world is the world we live in, filled with changing physical things we can see, touch and interact with. The intelligible world is the world of invisible, eternal, changeless forms like goodness, beauty, unity and sameness. Plato ascribes
12463-400: The two are identical. This means that there is nothing to the world that does not belong to God and that there is nothing to God beyond what is found in the world. Panentheism constitutes a middle ground between theism and pantheism. Against theism, it holds that God and the world are interrelated and depend on each other. Against pantheism, it holds that there is no outright identity between
12584-424: The two. In philosophy, the term world has several possible meanings. In some contexts, it refers to everything that makes up reality or the physical universe . In others, it can mean have a specific ontological sense (see world disclosure ). While clarifying the concept of world has arguably always been among the basic tasks of Western philosophy , this theme appears to have been raised explicitly only at
12705-471: The underworld. The Romans had a similar belief system about the afterlife, with Hades becoming known as Pluto . In the ancient Greek myth about the Labours of Heracles , the hero Heracles had to travel to the underworld to capture Cerberus , the three-headed guard dog, as one of his tasks. In Dream of Scipio , Cicero describes what seems to be an out of body experience , of the soul traveling high above
12826-431: The universe besides spacetime: forms of energy or matter, like stars and particles, and laws of nature. World-conceptions in this field differ both concerning their notion of spacetime and of the contents of spacetime. The theory of relativity plays a central role in modern cosmology and its conception of space and time. A difference from its predecessors is that it conceives space and time not as distinct dimensions but as
12947-464: The warriors and shades, Tartarus (where the titans and powerful non-mortal enemies of the Olympians reside) where he can hear the groans of the imprisoned, the palace of Pluto , and the fields of Elysium where the descendants of the divine and bravest heroes reside. He sees the river of forgetfulness, Lethe , which the dead must drink to forget their life and begin anew. Lastly, his father shows him all of
13068-522: The whole world as one big wave function expressing the probability of finding particles in a given location. The world-concept plays a role in many modern theories of modality, sometimes in the form of possible worlds . A possible world is a complete and consistent way how things could have been. The actual world is a possible world since the way things are is a way things could have been. There are many other ways things could have been besides how they actually are. For example, Hillary Clinton did not win
13189-457: The world and our place in it, as is found in religions, is known as a worldview . Cosmogony is the field that studies the origin or creation of the world, while eschatology refers to the science or doctrine of the last things or of the end of the world. In various contexts, the term "world" takes a more restricted meaning associated, for example, with the Earth and all life on it, with humanity as
13310-489: The world around the time between 800 and 200 BCE. A third periodization is based on the relations between civilizations and societies. According to this paradigm, history can be divided into three periods in relation to the dominant region in the world: Middle Eastern dominance before 500 BCE, Eurasian cultural balance until 1500 CE and Western dominance since 1500 CE. Big history employs an even wider framework than world history by putting human history into
13431-411: The world as a whole, two are of special interest: existence monism/pluralism and priority monism/pluralism. Existence monism states that the world is the only concrete object there is. This means that all the concrete "objects" we encounter in our daily lives, including apples, cars and ourselves, are not truly objects in a strict sense. Instead, they are just dependent aspects of the world-object. Such
13552-420: The world based on its relation to God. Classical theism states that God is wholly distinct from the world. But the world depends for its existence on God, both because God created the world and because He maintains or conserves it. This is sometimes understood in analogy to how humans create and conserve ideas in their imagination, with the difference being that the divine mind is vastly more powerful. On such
13673-411: The world is contrasted with the mind as that which is represented by the mind. Theology conceptualizes the world in relation to God, for example, as God's creation, as identical to God, or as the two being interdependent. In religions , there is a tendency to downgrade the material or sensory world in favor of a spiritual world to be sought through religious practice. A comprehensive representation of
13794-454: The world is imposed by the mind on reality but lacks independent existence otherwise. A more radical idealist conception of the world can be found in Berkeley's subjective idealism , which holds that the world as a whole, including all everyday objects like tables, cats, trees and ourselves, "consists of nothing but minds and ideas". Different theological positions hold different conceptions of
13915-404: The world not just as a spatiotemporal collection of objects but as additionally incorporating various other relations between these objects. These relations include, for example, indication-relations that help us anticipate one object given the appearances of another object and means-end-relations or functional involvements relevant for practical concerns. In philosophy of mind , the term "world"
14036-508: The world of football, the world of experience or the Asian world. But at the same time, worlds are usually defined as all-inclusive totalities. This seems to contradict the very idea of a plurality of worlds since if a world is total and all-inclusive then it cannot have anything outside itself. Understood this way, a world can neither have other worlds besides itself or be part of something bigger. One way to resolve this paradox while holding onto
14157-538: The world. The corresponding forms of pluralism state that the world is complex in the sense that it is made up of concrete, independent objects. Scientific cosmology can be defined as the science of the universe as a whole. In it, the terms " universe " and " cosmos " are usually used as synonyms for the term "world". One common definition of the world/universe found in this field is as "[t]he totality of all space and time; all that is, has been, and will be". Some definitions emphasize that there are two other aspects to
14278-484: Was a temporary interruption rather than complete cessation of life. Eternal life could be ensured by means like piety to the gods, preservation of the physical form through mummification , and the provision of statuary and other funerary equipment. Each human consisted of the physical body, the ka , the ba , and the akh . The Name and Shadow were also living entities. To enjoy the afterlife, all these elements had to be sustained and protected from harm. On 30 March 2010,
14399-479: Was followed by an expansion that allowed the universe to sufficiently cool down for the formation of subatomic particles and later atoms. These initial elements formed giant clouds, which would then coalesce into stars and galaxies. Non-scientific creation myths are found in many cultures and are often enacted in rituals expressing their symbolic meaning. They can be categorized concerning their contents. Types often found include creation from nothing, from chaos or from
14520-486: Was peaceful and contented, and the Sun always shone there. Tartarus was for the people that blasphemed against the gods or were rebellious and consciously evil. InTartarus, the soul would be punished by being burned in lava or stretched on racks. The Asphodel Fields were for a varied selection of human souls including those whose sins equaled their goodness, those who were indecisive in their lives, and those who were not judged. Some heroes of Greek legend are allowed to visit
14641-510: Was the only way to have an afterlife. What are referred to as the Coffin Texts , are inscribed on a coffin and serve as a guide for the challenges in the afterlife. The Coffin texts are more or less a duplication of the Pyramid Texts , which would serve as a guide for Egyptian pharaohs or queens in the afterlife. Only if the corpse had been properly embalmed and entombed in a mastaba , could
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