2. The question of ‘who begets whom’ in relation to the Spirit and the Body was an important point of contention for thinkers at the beginning of the Decline. If, for example, the Spirit exists like a cloak over the Body, is the Body the constitution of its being? Alternately, if the Body entire, sun and planet and all, perishes, does the Spirit die also, or does it envelop, even create, an unknown and secondary Body which lies somewhere beyond infinity? Note also that inanimate, non-living beings were usually not attributed with a spirit; it was understood that, even if the Body entire were to perish, rocks and buildings and the hills would remain standing. A small handful of writers attributed consciousness to trees.