Kepler's Living Cosmology: Bridging the Celestial and Terrestrial Realms.

Johannes Kepler's system of mathematical archetypes played a primary role in his physical cosmology. Identified as the geometrical models making up the metaphysical blueprint of the material world, Kepler's archetypes underlay every aspect of his world picture. Despite their importance, however, it has remained unclear how Kepler conceived of the archetypes in corporeal terms, that is, how he saw archetypes as being embodied in the form of material phenomena. Kepler's solution, I suggest, is an efficient cause, a facultas animalis, or animate faculty, pervading both the celestial and the terrestrial realms. In addition to its ability to realise the archetypes in their physical form, the animate faculty allowed Kepler to account for heavenly and earthly occurrences in terms of the same geometrical principles. Faraway phenomena such as comets and new stars could thus be seen as essentially comparable to more accessible curiosities on the Earth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]