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'Dionysius the Areopagite' is arguably one of the most mysterious
and intriguing figures to emerge from the late antique world.
Writing probably around 500 CE, and possibly connected with the
circle of Severus of Antioch, Dionysius manipulates a Platonic
metaphysics to describe a hierarchical universe: as with the
Hellenic Platonists, he arranges the celestial and material cosmos
into a series of triadic strata. These strata emanate from one
unified being and contain beings that range from superior to
inferior, depending on their proximity to God. Not only do all
things in the hierarchy participate in God, but also all things are
inter-connected, so that the lower hierarchies fully participate in
the higher ones. This metaphysics lends itself to a sacramental
system similar to that of the Hellenic ritual, theurgy. Theurgy
allows humans to reach the divine by examining the divine as it
exists in creation. Although Dionysius' metaphysics and religion
are similar to that of Iamblichus and Proclus in many ways,
Pseudo-Dionysius differs fundamentally in his use of an
ecclesiastical cosmos, rather than that of the Platonic Timaean
cosmos of the Hellenes. This book discusses the Christian
Platonist's adaptation of Hellenic metaphysics, language, and
religious ritual. While Dionysius clearly works within the Hellenic
tradition, he innovates to integrate Hellenic and Christian
thought.
'Dionysius the Areopagite' is arguably one of the most mysterious
and intriguing figures to emerge from the late antique world.
Writing probably around 500 CE, and possibly connected with the
circle of Severus of Antioch, Dionysius manipulates a Platonic
metaphysics to describe a hierarchical universe: as with the
Hellenic Platonists, he arranges the celestial and material cosmos
into a series of triadic strata. These strata emanate from one
unified being and contain beings that range from superior to
inferior, depending on their proximity to God. Not only do all
things in the hierarchy participate in God, but also all things are
inter-connected, so that the lower hierarchies fully participate in
the higher ones. This metaphysics lends itself to a sacramental
system similar to that of the Hellenic ritual, theurgy. Theurgy
allows humans to reach the divine by examining the divine as it
exists in creation. Although Dionysius' metaphysics and religion
are similar to that of Iamblichus and Proclus in many ways,
Pseudo-Dionysius differs fundamentally in his use of an
ecclesiastical cosmos, rather than that of the Platonic Timaean
cosmos of the Hellenes. This book discusses the Christian
Platonist's adaptation of Hellenic metaphysics, language, and
religious ritual. While Dionysius clearly works within the Hellenic
tradition, he innovates to integrate Hellenic and Christian
thought.
This collection of essays surveys a wide range of methods of
Platonic interpretation, ranging from the dialogues themselves, to
Middle and Neoplatonic interpretations of Plato’s writings, to
modern uses of Platonism. As a philosophical movement, Platonism is
broadly conceived, covering schools and philosophers beginning with
Plato and his immediate followers and extending through
contemporary philosophers. The history of Platonism begins, of
course, with Plato himself. But his adoption of the dialogue style
and his active engagement with students in his Academy, where he
certainly used dialectic techniques, led almost immediately to
questioning what Plato’s doctrines actually were. His student
Aristotle raised questions of interpretations and invoked esoteric
teachings not present in the written works. The earliest heads of
the Academy struggled with Plato’s texts as well, creating rival
interpretations. These early discussions gave rise to later ones,
and Platonism became simultaneously a dogmatic philosophy and a
source of sometimes-heated debate of what the master intended. From
its inception, Platonism was a dynamic philosophy, open to varied
interpretations on different fronts while also maintaining a common
core of beliefs. Platonism gave rise to methods of interpretation
that centered on historical, ethical, political, or metaphysical
questions engendered by Plato’s writings. The ancient
commentators reflected the teachings of their predecessors, and
with only a few schools in the Greco-Roman world, many of their
students studying under the same teachers, meant a heightened
continuity in the tradition of interpretation. This volume honors
the seventy-fifth birthday of John Dillon, the great scholar of
Platonism whose scholarship had a pivotal role in defining
Platonism as a philosophical movement in contemporary academia.
This volume brings together articles by sixteen leading scholars on
a cross-section of Platonists authors-Christian and
non-Christian-from early through late Byzantium philosophy,
including the Capaddocians, Cyril, Proclus, Damascius, Dionysius,
George of Pisidia, Nicetas Stethatos, Nikephoros Choumenos,
Psellos, and George Palamas. The reception of Byzantine thought in
the Latin tradition is also considered. The articles collectively
show development in the Greek East on ontological issues such as
the doctrine of the soul, as well as theological concepts of the
One/God and Trinity within a hierarchical universe. The volume
considers exegetical questions relating to the use of Plato and the
Platonists by Byzantine Christian authors.
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