In their emphasis on elaborate doctrines, proselytization, and missionary activity, some were prototypes of the "new religions" that have sprung up in modern Japan.
If the best elucidation of an elaborate philosophical doctrine makes reference to "the face of the whole universe," that is a good sign that the doctrine needs further development.
Pope Gregory I (reigned 590 604) elaborated the doctrine still further, treating the purgatorial fire as an extension beyond the grave of the metaphorical fire of redemptive suffering.
Immanuel Kant, the father of critical philosophy, in order to show the inadequacy of pure reason in the field of metaphysics, employed the word antinomies in elaborating his doctrine that pure reason generates contradictions in seeking to grasp the unconditioned.
The simple belief in these spiritual beings, independent of natural bodies, would, he thought, expand to include more elaborate religious doctrines, accompanied by rites designed to influence powerful spirits and so control important natural events.
Ideas about the rule of law have been central to political and legal thought since at least the 4th century bce, when Aristotle distinguished "the rule of law" from "that of any individual". In the 18th century the French political philosopher Montesquieu elaborated a doctrine of the rule of law that contrasted the legitimate authority of monarchs with the caprice of despots.
The number of dialogues that are dominated by a Socrates who is spinning out elaborate philosophical doctrines is remarkably small: Phaedo, Republic, Phaedrus, and Philebus.
The elder monks sought to first test Buddhaghosa's knowledge, by assigning him the task of elaborating the doctrine regarding two verses of the suttas; Buddhaghosa replied by composing the Visuddhimagga.
A long succession of English writers have echoed or elaborated his doctrines or, when opposing them, have accepted his conception of the analysis of legal concepts as the central concern of jurisprudence.
The most notable exception to this historical generalization is the long-standing and elaborate Roman Catholic doctrine of opera supererogationis.
