Spirit (redirected from aromatic spirit of ammonia)

spirit¹

1. the force or principle of life that animates the body of living things

2. 

a. an incorporeal being, esp the soul of a dead person

b. (as modifier): spirit world

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spirit²

1. any distilled alcoholic liquor such as brandy, rum, whisky, or gin

2. Chem

a. an aqueous solution of ethanol, esp one obtained by distillation

b. the active principle or essence of a substance, extracted as a liquid, esp by distillation

3. Pharmacol

a. a solution of a volatile substance, esp a volatile oil, in alcohol

b. (as modifier): a spirit burner

4. Alchemy any of the four substances sulphur, mercury, sal ammoniac, or arsenic

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spirit [′spir·ət]

(food engineering)

A flammable liquid mixture of water and ethyl alcohol that is separated from an alcoholic liquid or mash by distillation during the manufacture of whiskey.

(organic chemistry)

A solution of alcohol and a volatile substance, such as an essential oil.

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Spirit 

a philosophical concept, signifying an immaterial principle, as distinct from a natural, material principle. The question of the interrelationship between matter and spirit is the basic question of philosophy. The philosophy that asserts the primacy of matter over spirit is materialism: according to F. Engels, spirit is the “highest creation” of matter (see K. Marx and F. Engels, Soch., 2nd ed., vol. 20, p. 363). The belief that spirit is prior to matter is spiritualism or idealism. The idea of spirit, which plays the central role in idealist philosophies, emerges in panlogism as concept, in pantheism as substance, and in theism and other personalistic conceptions as personality. In rationalistic philosophical systems, spirit is in essence equated with thought and consciousness. In irrationalism the noncognitive aspects of spirit—will, feeling, imagination, and intuition—are seen as the moments forming the essence of spirit.

Originally in ancient Greece, spirit (nous, logos, pneuma) was conceived of as a fine substratum with some of the properties of matter. Thus, pneuma signifies “wind” (for Thales and Empedocles) or “air” (for Anaximenes). With Aristotle and Plato, nous (mind) becomes the most important concept: it is the primary motive power of the universe and the form-giving principle that fills dark and shapeless matter with its energies. The concept of spirit was systematically developed in neo-Platonic philosophy, particularly by Plotinus. As distinguished from the cosmological, intellectualistic, impersonal interpretation of spirit in antiquity, the biblical Christian tradition envisions spirit as a personal absolute and divine personal will (god) that creates the world and man out of nothing. Modern philosophy has seen the development of the rationalist concept of spirit as reason or thought (the French philosopher R. Descartes, the Dutch philosopher B. Spinoza, and the French materialists of the 18th century). German classical philosophy especially developed the intellectualist aspect of spirit. F. Schelling considered all of nature as only a moment of absolute spirit; G. Hegel developed a philosophy of world spirit, which manifests itself in a system of developing logical categories. The interpretation of spirit as totality (romanticism) or in an irrationalistic way (F. Nietzsche, A. Schopenhauer, and E. Hartmann) was then developed into intuitivist interpretations (H. Bergson and N. Losskii) and existentialist interpretations. Thus, in existentialism, spirit is opposed to the false principle of reason, which is destructive to the individual personality; spirit is, foremost, will originating in authentic existence. The positivist tendency (neopositivism) generally does away with the problem of spirit, considering it to be metaphysical and outside the realm of scientific investigation.

Marxist philosophy uses the concept of “spirit” as a synonym for consciousness.