Ideas on the Affirmative Principle of Life and the Negative Principle of Death

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In consideration of the receptivity to stimuli original: "Reizempfänglichkeit". This describes the capacity of a body to be affected by an external force., or excitability original: "Erregbarkeit". A central concept in 18th-century vitalism, suggesting that life is defined by the ability to respond to stimuli., they are regarded as

Finally, in regard to the interactions, as

Everything that exists, everything that lives, lives as a phenomenon original: "Erscheinung". This refers to the observable manifestation of underlying forces. between stimulus and excitability; wherever there are phenomena, therefore, stimuli and excitability are necessary—the giving of stimulus and the receiving of stimulus.

Everywhere, then, there are forces and substances; or principles that exert influence, and substances upon which influence is exerted, and which through that influence—