The transformation of Plato’s theory of soul in the philosophy of Florentine Neoplatonism

The object of this research is the Platonic tradition of understanding of soul. The subject of this research is the interpretation of Plato's concept of soul in the philosophy of Florentine academicians. The goal is trace the historical-philosophical evolution of Plato's theory of soul from the Antiquity to the Renaissance philosophy. The article represents the authorial historical-philosophical and comparative analysis of the primary sources. Analysis is conducted on the works of Plato, Plotinus, Augustine of Hippo, Aristotle, Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, M. Ficino, and D. Pico della Mirandola. The article outlines the key provisions of Plato's concept of the soul, reveals the tendencies of gradual historical transformation of this tradition within the history of philosophical thought. The topic at hand has not been previously covered in the scientific research, which defines the novelty of this paper. Soul is viewed as the mirror of the divine world that is in need of catharsis. Special attention is given to Neoplatonic comprehension of the luminous nature of soul. The concept of “universal soul”, which eclectically connects with the Christian understanding of soul as the individual and free principle is revealed. Analysis is conducted on components of the soul described by Plato, namely rational, appetitive, and the spirited. Special attention is turned to the rational soul as an immortal active principle. Position of the soul in the world hierarchy is considered. The article examines the soul as “bond of peace”, which encompasses the dialectical opposites of rational and sensuous, sole and numerous, separable and inseparable, time and eternity.

Being Alive, Living a Life. The Unity of the Concept of Life in Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite

The writings of Corpus Dionysiacum present a concept of life which is different from the one that we profess nowadays. Its view is backed up mainly by the Platonic tradition, which since the times of Plato has tended to see life as an intellectual principle. Therefore, in the Neoplatonic system we can find the conviction that life, in its fullest sense, is intellectual and at its peak is a vision of the One. In the system of Proclus, life, apart from being a principle, is also a god and the main principle of the whole world of intellectual and intellective gods. Pseudo-Dionysius in his writings exploits the concept of the unparticipable and participable principle, and since God is for him Trinity completely beyond participation and knowledge, the divine names play the role of participable henads. However, for Dionysius, names are neither hypostases nor living gods, which is clearly visible in case of the name of Life. All things participate in the name of life and in this name God is the only principle of life in the universe. However, life is not a property to own, but rather a constant struggle to approach the Trinity. Therefore, by committing a sin, an angel or a man loses life, which in the case of a man can be regained through sacramental activity. An analysis of the thoughts of Pseudo-Dionysius reveals a conception of life which is unified contrary to its shattered modern understanding. While biological, mental, moral lives fundamentally differ for us, for Dionysius those are merely aspects of the same thing, and therefore in his view life can be lost and regained not only in the metaphorical, but also the ontological sense.

Doctrine of Angels in «The Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith» of St. John of Damascus

В Священном Писании ангелы изображаются неизмеримо более совершенными существами, чем человек, но при этом в Послании к Евреям человек ставится гораздо выше служебных духов, посылаемых в помощь имеющим наследовать спасение (Евр. 1, 14). Очень немногие Отцы предпринимали попытку систематического обсуждения онтологического статуса и роли небесных сил. Даже в самом известном трактате об ангелах, «О небесной иерархии», Дионисий Ареопагит рассуждает об ангелах в рамках неоплатонической иерархической парадигмы, используемой в качестве концептуальной основы для учения об ангелах как посредниках в передаче божественного откровения, по большей части игнорируя радикальный и парадоксальный «слом» онтологических иерархий в Воплощении и возвышенную роль человеческой природы, телесно пребывающую одесную Отца на престоле славы в ипостаси Сына. Альтернативное Дионисию учение об ангелах содержится в краткой главе об ангелах в «Точном изложении православной веры» Иоанна Дамаскина, где подчёркивается равный людям онтологический статус ангелов как части тварного мира. В других произведениях Иоанн Дамаскин даёт убедительное христологическое решение дихотомии между ангельским возвышенным состоянием и человеческим ограниченным состоянием в духе Послания к Евреям, предлагая два ярких примера в качестве разрешения: Богородицу, неизмеримо превосходящую все ангельские силы, возвышенную более херувимов и превознесённую превыше серафимов, а также участие в Евхаристии, дарованное людям, но не ангелам. In the Holy Scripture, angels are described as immeasurably more perfect beings than humans, yet at the same time, in the Epistle to the Hebrews, humans are placed much higher than the «ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation» (Heb. 1, 14). Very few Fathers have attempted to systematically discuss the ontological status and role of the heavenly powers. In the most famous treatise on angels, On the Celestial Hierarchy, Dionysius the Areopagite discusses angels in the Neoplatonic hierarchical paradigm used as a conceptual basis for the archaic doctrine of angels as intermediaries in the transmission of divine revelation, and for the most part underplaying the radical and paradoxical “collapse” of ontological hierarchies in the Incarnation and supreme role of human nature placed bodily at the right hand of the Father on the throne of glory in the hypostasis of the Son. An alternative doctrine of angels to that of Dionysius appears in a short chapter on angels in John of Damascus’ Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, which emphasizes the ontological status of angels equal to humans as a part of the created world. In other writings, John Damascene provides a convincing Christological solution to the dichotomy between the angelic exalted state and human limited state in the spirit of the Epistle to the Hebrews, offering two striking examples as a resolution: the Mother of God, immeasurably superior to all angelic powers, exalted more than cherubim and exalted above the seraphim, and participation in the Eucharist granted to people, but not to angels.

The history of the Imyaslav polemic in the context of foreign Church journalism

In the history of the holy Mount Athos, there were not so many bright historical events, one of them was the dispute about the Name of God and the Name of Jesus. Having arisen among the Russian monks of Mount Athos in 1912 – 1913, the dispute did not attract the active participation of representatives of other nationalities. One of the features of this phenomenon was that from the very beginning it received a categorically negative definition from the Patriarchate of Constantinople. This definition has not undergone a significant revision among foreign ecclesiastical and secular historians and publicists over the past hundred years. At the same time, in Russia, the topic of the history and essence of imyaslaviya since its appearance and still continues to be debatable. The author of this publication separately examines the position that prevailed among the Greek monks and clergy on Mount Athos in relation to the Imyaslav dispute. It is also noteworthy that both sides (both opponents and supporters of imyaslavy), arguing their polar opposite points of view from the very beginning of the Imyaslavsky discourse, appeal to the same sources – the Holy Scripture and the works of the Holy Fathers of the Church, especially to the theological heritage of Gregory of Nyssa, Basil the Great, Dionysius the Areopagite, Gregory Palamas. However, certain statements are sometimes quoted tendentiously selectively outside the entire context of the source. This is especially true for authors whose works criticize and refute the Imyaslav teaching. Without setting a task to consecrate all aspects of this topic, which in itself is worthy of a separate study, the author of the publication tries to show the general history of the discussion, as well as how objective were the assessments about the Imyaslav teaching itself, expressed from the very beginning of its appearance, and how these assessments influenced the further course of the Imyaslav process as a whole.

The terms of a theoretical approach of the natural and divine world in George Pachymeres

In this article, we are investigating the methods in which George Pachymeres, the commentator of the De divinis nominibus of Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, epistemologically approaches the natural and the divine reality. It becomes clear that every judgement on God starts from the sensible world, so a reversed induction is revealed. Although the existence of God is never questioned, no final conclusion about his self-founding way of existing can be drawn. Considering the substantial difference between the two levels, two are the ways in which the natural world and the divine transcendent reality are approached. In the first case, the thinking subject functions mostly in natural-empirical terms, while in the second one it follows a mystical-intuitive course. Nevertheless, the context is consistently realistic.

Spațiul sacru în biserica creștină de tradiție bizantină. Trei perspective

The creation of sacred spaces has played a central role during the evolution of christian faith and culture. The main source of inspiration has been the word of the Bible which describes the design of the Holy Place as told by God to the chosen ones at various times. The divine models have been filled with symbolic meanings by Holy Fathers and Byzantine theologians. Thus, the understanding of their writings and the Holy Bible come first when analysing the sacred spaces of the Eastern Church. This article presents the main concepts regarding the Church, it’s architecture and spiritual meaning, of three Byzantine thinkers – Dionysius the Areopagite, Maximus the Confessor and Symeon of Thessalonike.

Three Ways to Imitate Paul in Late Antiquity: Ekstasis, Ekphrasis, Epektasis

Robert Orsi’s argument that religion, more than a system of “meaning making,” is a “network of relationships between heaven and earth” helps us understand what is at stake in imitation for early Christians. The question for Orsi is not, “What does it mean to imitate Paul?” as much as it is, “In what kind of relationship is one engaged when one imitates Paul?” Christians argue over both what to imitate (Who is Paul?) and how to imitate (How should Christians relate to Paul in order to be like him or to render him present?). The what has received lots of scholarly attention; this paper focuses on the how. I compare the range of possibilities of how to imitate Paul by focusing on three influential accounts of mimesis: Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite (ekstasis), John Chrysostom (ekphrasis), and Gregory of Nyssa (epektasis).

Apocryphal Stories about Angels in "Paley Tolkova"

In the Old Russian Palea, which begins with a story about the creation of the world with extensive interpretations borrowed from the works of Severian of Gabala, Basil the Great, the interpretations of John Chrysostom on the Book of Genesis, the works of Epiphanius of Cyprus, “The Six Days” by John the Exarch of Bulgaria, the appearance of the earthly angels precedes the creation of the earthly world. The doctrine of the angelic ranks is based on the testimonies of the Old Testament about seraphim, cherubim, powers, angels and the New Testament information about thrones, dominions, powers, principles, archangels. In early patristics, the classification of heavenly powers belongs to Gregory the Theologian, as well as to Cyril of Jerusalem. The systematic doctrine of the hierarchy of heavenly forces belongs to Dionysius the Areopagite: in his work "On the heavenly hierarchy."

«God is dead» as an apophatic text of the borderline consciousness

The main theme of the article is the borderline conscious-ness; the subject is the novella «God Is Dead» (1922) by S. D. Krzhizhanovsky as a reflection of the borderline consciousness. The purpose of the article is to reveal the specifics of the borderline conscious-ness in general and its features in the culture of the late 19 th and early 20 th centuries using the example of the analysis of the novella «God Is Dead», as well as of other texts similar in content and the time of writing. The main methods are ontological, historical-cultural, analytical, and com-parative. The introductory part defines the main characteristics of the bor-derline consciousness and also clarifies the etymology and the immanence of the process in development of the human society. Further, the author of the article identifies the substantive aspects in the concept of «apophati-cism», draws on the names of philosophers that are relevant to the thoughts of S. D. Krzhizhanovsky, (F. Nietzsche, A. Schweitzer, M. Heidegger), emphasizes that negation has nothing to do with God, from the point of view of Dionysius the Areopagite. The common and different aspects of philosophical and artistic views on apophaticism are also analyzed (F. Nietzsche, K. K. Sluchevsky). Further, the researcher carries out a de-tailed analysis of the novella «God Is Dead»by S. D. Krzhizhanovsky: the compositional structure is examined, an overview of the characters and their peculiarities is given, biblical and artistic allusions, their correlation with the specificity of the Soviet regime are revealed. The author of the article specially emphasizes that S. D. Krzhizhanovsky resorts to apophaticism as a characteristic of this time. The polemic part designates different approaches in the modern interpretation of apophaticism in the novella by S. D. Krzhizhanovsky, which do not coincide with the understanding of the author of this article. In the final observations, it is emphasized: the border-line consciousness thinks within the boundaries, which is reflected in art and outlook on the world.