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Work #947 · Mature (probably from the Strasbourg years before the trial)

Vom Edlen Menschen

Meister Eckhart (Eckhart von Hochheim)
c. 1308-13 (Strasbourg or Paris period) · Middle High German
Spiritual treatise · Rhineland mysticism / German Dominican spiritual writing

The noble man is the soul that has known itself in its divine ground — and that ground is one with God's own ground

Attribute Fingerprint

Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.

Attribute Vom Edlen Menschen (Mature (probably from the Strasbourg years before the trial))
Time · Extent Infinite
Time · Ontological Status Emergent
Time · Grain Continuous
Time · Freedom Non-Deterministic
Time · Traversability Linear
Time · Dimensionality One
Time · Direction Non-directional
Space · Extent Infinite
Space · Ontological Status Emergent
Space · Curvature Undefined
Space · Dimensionality Three
Space · Locality Non-local
Matter · Extent Infinite
Matter · Ontological Status Emergent
Matter · Conservation Conserved
Matter · Dimensionality Three
Matter · Locality Non-local
Observer · Time Instance Single
Observer · Space Instance Single
Observer · Knowledge Extent Partial
Observer · Knowledge Retainment Total
Observer · Physicality Embodied
Observer · Agency Both
Observer · Number Singular
Observer · Metaphysical Agency Cosmic-ordering
Observer · Moral Authority Scripture
Observer · Theological Method
Energy · Extent Infinite
Energy · Ontological Status Emergent
Energy · Conservation Conserved
Energy · Dispersibility Reversible
Information · Ontological Status Emergent
Information · Cosmic Conservation Conserved
Information · Personal Conservation Conserved
Information · Granularity Continuous

Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence

What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.

Time

Vom Edlen Menschen

The eternal moment of the soul's recognition of its divine ground; the temporal journey of the noble man toward this recognition.

Space

Vom Edlen Menschen

The non-spatial "ground" of the soul; the "far country" of the parable read as the soul's native divine home.

Matter

Vom Edlen Menschen

The bodily life of the noble man — Eckhart does not deny the embodied condition but locates the soul's nobility deeper than the body.

Observer

Vom Edlen Menschen

The noble man — Observer Number is Singular at the ground where the soul and God are one.

Energy

Vom Edlen Menschen

The dynamic of return — the soul moving toward and finally arriving at its divine ground.

Information

Vom Edlen Menschen

The scriptural parable read with full allegorical depth; the discrete spiritual lessons of the soul's journey home.

Internal Tensions

Where each work's argument pulls against itself.

Vom Edlen Menschen

The syllogism — "the just man is born of God; what is born of God is God; therefore the just man is, by his justice, God" — was among the propositions cited at Eckhart's trial and condemned (with qualifications) in the 1329 bull. Eckhart and his Dominican defenders insisted on the orthodox reading (the just man is one with God by participation, not identity), but the rhetorical sharpness of the formulation made the controversy unavoidable.