Von Helmont’s archeus clothed itself in matter as an inward generative workman

Evidence

The inward agent was also called the chief or master workman. In vegetables, it was a juice; in metals, it was thicker and homogeneous with the material; in other things, it was an “air.” It was the inward spiritual kernel of the seed through which the seed developed and grew to full fruitfulness. “The archeus, the workman and governor of generation, doth clothe himself … with a bodily clothing … and begins to transform matter according to the perfect act of his own image.” — Carolyn Merchant, The Death of Nature, 522

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines the archeus as an inward agent active within all matter, contrasting with mechanism’s dead passive particles.
• XREF: connects to: Leibniz’s conception of matter as dormant monads echoed Van Helmont’s and Conway’s organicism. — Carolyn Merchant, The Death of Nature: Women, Ecology,…, 989; Matter’s inherent spontaneity made activity primary in nature — Carolyn Merchant, The Death of Nature: Women, Ecology,…, 525

Broader Connections

• Leibniz’s conception of matter as dormant monads echoed Van Helmont’s and Conway’s organicism. #corroborates (0.85) — Carolyn Merchant, The Death of Nature, 989
• Matter’s inherent spontaneity made activity primary in nature #expands (0.75) — Carolyn Merchant, The Death of Nature, 525