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A prevailing scholarly view holds that John Milton’s monism (his belief that matter and spirit are inseparable) is a reaction to seventeenth-century determinism. My thesis, however, posits that Milton’s monism in fact emerges from his exploration of literary form. Chapter one traces the classical roots of the philosophy and its compatibility with Genesis. It posits the comprehensiveness of monist philosophy and highlights the vitalist (or animate) implications of ancient monist theories for literary form. Spoken or written words, Democritus suggests, correspond to the material building blocks or “elements” of the universe: the construction of literary form is analogous to the creation of the cosmos. Indeed, Lucretius’ letter-atom analogy suggests that the process of creating literary form is essentially identical to the atomic method underlying the composition of other material forms in the universe. Greek atomist thought, the chapter proposes, finds a striking parallel in Jewish mystical beliefs about creation. It is with the letters of the divine name that the Lord was said to have created the universe. I argue that, for Milton, Aristotle is most influential in expressing a vitalist conception of literary form, for in his philosophy, soul generates voice, which manifests itself in writing. Milton acknowledges the association between words and atoms, between letters and primordial substance, and between voice, or breath, and spirit in his monist materialism; after all, in Genesis, God creates by utterance. Examining the relation of vitalism to Aristotelian poetics, I suggest the relevance of the concept to Milton’s hybrid literary forms. Then, analysing the material nature of voice in Milton’s works, I posit in chapter two that Milton’s polemical pamphlets underscore the sense of spirit in writing that we find in the poetry. That literary forms can be perceived to embody soul because they evoke voice is evident also from Milton’s Art of Logic (1672). I suggest in chapter three that Logic is saturated with materialism because the Aristotelian sources on which Milton’s Ramist logic is based express material monism. Milton’s Logic and Areopagitica (1644) provide further evidence of his thinking about the vital potential of literary form through the logical construction of texts, a continued interest, I argue, which ultimately engenders his mature monism. Milton use of dream narratives in Paradise Lost, I propose, suggests that reality varies materially by degrees. The parts that reality comprises become more distinct after the Fall, when Milton’s dream narratives, and his cosmology, changes. Before the Fall, the poet imagines that Earth orbits the sun, and that the sun orbits heaven at the centre of the cosmos, a formation, I explain, that has striking resemblance to modern knowledge of the solar system. With careful attention to the dreams of Paradise Lost, I have determined that monism, for Milton, encompasses the workings of intellect, and in the final chapter, I argue that this principle is central to understanding Paradise Regained. The Son’s method of survival in the wilderness becomes the means by which paradise (the spiritual reality) is regained. Understanding his own nature permits the Son of God physiologically to sustain himself through dreaming; the intellectual achievement alters the material nature of his body so that he is sustained by spiritual food. Monism is at the very heart of Paradise Regained. It is a monist methodology of literary form which enables the poet across his oeuvre truly to represent the nature of reality.

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There have been many studies of keywords in Paradise Lost. Over the last fifty or so years words such as �wander�, �lapse�, �error�, �fruit�, �balmy�, �fall�, �hands�, among others, have attracted critics� attention. The present enquiry brings under scrutiny three linked keywords which have up to now escaped notice. These are the words �bliss�, �delight�, and �pleasure�. The fundamental proposition of the thesis is that Milton does not use these words haphazardly or interchangeably in his epic poem (though in other of his poetic productions he is by no means as fastidious). On the contrary, he self-consciously distinguishes among the three terms, assigning to each its own particular �theatre of operations�. Meant by this is that each keyword is selectively referred to a separate structural division of the epic, thus, �bliss� has reference specifically to Heaven (or to the earthly paradise viewed as a simulacrum of Heaven), �delight� to the earthly paradise in Eden and to the prelapsarian condition nourished by it; while �pleasure�, whose signification is ambiguous, refers in its favourable sense (which is but little removed from �delight�) to the Garden and the sensations associated with it, and in its unfavourable one to postlapsarian sensations and to the fallen characters. Insofar as the three structural divisions taken into account (Hell is not) are hierarchically organized in the epic, so too are the three keywords that answer to them. Moreover, in relating keywords to considerations of structure, the thesis breaks new ground in Paradise Lost studies.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1983. / Vita. Bibliography: leaves [325]-342.

John Milton's Christian Doctrine reveals a number of doctrinal opinions clearly in disagreement with the orthodox Christianity of his day. His four major heresies, his monism itself, his theory of creation ex Deo, his anti-Trinitarianism, and his mortalism, form a logical system, developed in accordance with his monistic conception of the cosmos.Milton's monism denies the Platonic dualism between matter and spirit. He presents a world which is a continuum in which that which is usually called material is merely further removed from God than that which is normally called spiritual. This monism serves as the basis of his concepts of the universe, God, and humanity.Since Milton sees God as the total of reality, the things of this world cannot have their source in anything outside God. They cannot be created either from a preexistent prime matter or from nothing. His monism requires that they somehow be created ex Deo, from God's own substance.Milton's monism denies the possibility of the traditional concept of the Trinity. The Son is neither coeternal, co-essential, nor co-equal with the Father. The Holy Spirit is even less important, subordinate to both Father and Son. Since Christ must also be a unity, Milton presents a unique concept of the Incarnation, in which two total persons are mysteriously combined into one new person.His monism requires that the human being also be a unity. Two heresies result: (1) Traducianism, in which the soul is generated by the parents just as is the body; (2) Thnetopsychic mortalism, in which the entire human being dies together and then is resurrected to either reward or punishment.Through a study of monism, Milton's reader can find a key to the phenomenon of John Milton. He uniquely combines his monism with a staunch Biblical literalism, presenting himself as a Christian, but a Christian with a difference-a Christian who will allow no outside authority of any kind to define his faith. As a part of Milton's general application of a monistic cosmos to all his thought, the monistic continuity of the Miltonic heresy can clearly be discovered.

This thesis is a comparative study of the Medieval influence on the creation of John Milton’s Paradise Lost, and the purpose of this thesis is to establish Paradise Lost as a poem designed to correct what Milton saw as the errors of the Medieval theological worldview. A range of topics are discussed, from the loyal angels to the Garden of Eden to Hell and Satan, and particular attention is given to Dantean parallels in these areas of Milton’s poem. The thesis shows how Milton responded to such Medieval concepts as courtly love and salvation theory and demonstrates how Milton elaborates on, corrects, or repudiates Medieval literary and theological notions. In doing so, Milton has not only created the great English epic that he envisioned; he has produced a truly Protestant epic. Much attention has been given to the Miltonic influence on the Romantic period and to the influence of the classical poets on Milton. The contrasts and parallels between Milton and his Medieval predecessors has garnered much less attention but is equally important to a complete understanding of Milton as a man and poet. An appreciation of the Medieval influence on the poem Paradise Lost allows the reader to gain a fuller understanding of Milton’s own theological beliefs, and it will also help the reader to see how Paradise Lost took the form that it did.

Diss.--Wien--Wirtschaftsuniversität, 2004. / Bibliogr. p. 233-250. Sur la page de titre figure "Milton Friedmann"

Inaug.--diss.--Berlin. / Vita.

Dynamic mitochondrial transport into axons and dendrites of neuronal cells is critical for sustaining neuronal excitability, synaptic transmission, and cell survival. Failure of mitochondrial transport is the direct cause of some neurodegenerative diseases, and an aggravating factor for many others. Mitochondrial transport regulation involves many proteins; factoring prominently among them are the atypical mitochondrial GTPase Miro and the Milton/TRAK adaptor proteins, which link microtubule (MT) motors to mitochondria. Motors of the kinesin family mediate mitochondrial transport towards the plus ends of microtubules, while motors of the dynein family mediate mitochondrial transport towards the minus ends. Selective use of these motors determines the ultimate subcellular distribution of mitochondria, but the underlying control mechanisms remain poorly understood. Drosophila Miro (dMiro) is required for kinesin-driven transport of mitochondria, but its role in dynein-driven transport remains controversial. In Chapter 2 of this study, I show that dMiro is also required for the dynein-driven transport of mitochondria. In addition, we used the loss-of-function mutations dMiroT25N and dMiroT460N to analyze the function of dMiro's N- and C-terminal GTPase domains, respectively. We show that dMiroT25N causes lethality and impairs mitochondrial distribution and transport in a manner indistinguishable from dmiro null mutants. Our analysis suggests that both kinesin- and dynein-driven mitochondrial transport require the activity of Miro's N-terminal GTPase domain, which likely controls the transition from a stationary to a motile state irrespective of the transport direction. dMiroT460N reduced only dynein motility during retrograde axonal transport but had no effect on distribution of mitochondria in neurons, indicating that the C-terminal GTPase domain of Miro most likely has only a small modulatory role on transport. Furthermore, we show that commonly used substitutions in Miro's GTPase domains, based on the constitutively active Ras-G12V mutation, appear to cause neomorphic phenotypic effects which are probably unrelated to the normal function of the protein. In mammalian neurons, kinesin and dynein motors are linked to mitochondria via a Miro complex with the adapter proteins TRAK1 and TRAK2, respectively. Differential linkage of TRAK-motor complexes provides a mechanism for determining the direction of transport and controlling mitochondrial distributions within the cell. Drosophila has only one TRAK gene homolog, Milton, which expresses several protein isoform. Milton has been previously been shown to facilitate mitochondrial transport by binding to kinesin and dMiro, a role analogous to TRAK1. However, the question whether Milton might be able mediate dynein-based transport in a manner similar to TRAK2 has remained unknown. In Chapter 3 of this study, I show that protein isoforms A and B of Milton, generated through alternative mRNA splicing, facilitate differential motor activities analogous to mammalian TRAKs. Specifically, overexpression (OE) of Milton-A caused a mitochondrial redistribution and accumulation at axon terminals, which requires kinesin-driven MT plus end directed transport; while OE of Milton-B caused a redistribution of axonal mitochondria into the soma, which requires dynein-driven MT minus end directed transport. I further show that Milton-motor complex binding to mitochondria requires Miro exclusively, and that transport with either of the motor complexes absolutely requires the activity of Miro's N-terminal GTPase domain. Together, these results suggest that Miro controls the transition of mitochondria from a stationary to a motile phase. Thereafter the direction of transport is likely determined by an alternative binding of opposing Milton/TRAK-motor complexes to Miro, a process which appears to be regulated by a Miro-independent mechanism.