A mark of distinction, in heraldry, is a charge showing that the bearer of a shield is not (as defined by the rules or laws of heraldry in most, though not all, countries and situations) descended by blood from the original bearer. The "mark of distinction" (which is so called as it is supposed to "make distinct" that the bearer is not one of the possible legitimate heirs or heiresses) usually refers to a context of illegitimacy, the illegitimate offspring being regarded as a "stranger in blood" to his natural father. The mark of distinction may also be applied upon the adoption of a surname and arms of a family from whom the bearer is not descended.
This distinction had an important career in Gnostic thought, and was adopted by St. Paul, most notably in his doctrine of the spiritual resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:44).
The spirit-soul distinction (which of course translates into, or perhaps presupposes, the more fundamental mind-body distinction) marks the beginning of a transcendentalist and soteriological attitude toward the cosmos and temporal existence in general.
The main point of distinction between the doctrine of Mani and the Western branch of Gnosticism (Basilides, Valentinus, etc.), is that in Manichaeism the "cosmology is subservient to the soteriology" (Rudolph, p.
As indicated in the introduction, there is a grammatical distinction, and at least six ways of drawing a philosophical sortal/non-sortal distinction, and while many philosophers may believe the latter coincide, we shall argue that they do not.
Since most philosophers who invoke the distinction want to reject ‘thing’, ‘object’ and ‘entity’ as non-sortals, Griffin's suggestion is inadequate, or at least is a shift to a different concept with the same label.
It remains to be seen whether the sortal/non-sortal distinctionmarks one very important difference, or numerous less important distinctions that are related to one another.
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