Startseite Philosophie Contradiction and God Between Neoplatonism and the Byzantine Tradition: Proclus, Pseudo-Dionysius, and Nicholas of Methone
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Contradiction and God Between Neoplatonism and the Byzantine Tradition: Proclus, Pseudo-Dionysius, and Nicholas of Methone

  • Jonathan Greig
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Contradiction and the Absolute
Ein Kapitel aus dem Buch Contradiction and the Absolute

Abstract

Within the Byzantine Christian tradition, one commonly finds affirmative and negative predicates equally applied to God—for example, “God is Being-itself” and “God is not Being-itself”—suggesting a suspension of the Principle of Non-Contradiction (PNC). Byzantines in large part draw on the Pseudo-Dionysius (~6th-cent. CE) for this position, who was in large part influenced by the later Neoplatonist Proclus (5th cent. CE) who, by contrast, maintained the PNC by referring to the first cause (i.e. the One) in terms of negations alone (e.g. “the One is not Being”). In attempting to justify Ps.-Dionysius’ position, the 12th-cent. Byzantine Nicholas of Methone critiqued Proclus’ position on the first cause, explicitly arguing for the suspension of the PNC in allowing for negative and positive predications about God. This chapter closely analyzes how we get from Proclus’ affirmation of the PNC to Nicholas of Methone’s suspension of the PNC when referring to the first cause, looking closely at Pseudo-Dionysius as a key figure behind Nicholas’ position. An important, additional background for Ps.-Dionysius is Damascius, who, in contrast to Proclus, argues that the One implies the opposite, positive attributes that come after it, suggesting both affirmative and negative properties predicated of it. Damascius thus suggests what Ps.-Dionysius affirms and what Nicholas of Methone makes explicit in his critique of Proclus, giving us the background for understanding the Byzantine view on contradictory affirmations made about the first cause.

Abstract

Within the Byzantine Christian tradition, one commonly finds affirmative and negative predicates equally applied to God—for example, “God is Being-itself” and “God is not Being-itself”—suggesting a suspension of the Principle of Non-Contradiction (PNC). Byzantines in large part draw on the Pseudo-Dionysius (~6th-cent. CE) for this position, who was in large part influenced by the later Neoplatonist Proclus (5th cent. CE) who, by contrast, maintained the PNC by referring to the first cause (i.e. the One) in terms of negations alone (e.g. “the One is not Being”). In attempting to justify Ps.-Dionysius’ position, the 12th-cent. Byzantine Nicholas of Methone critiqued Proclus’ position on the first cause, explicitly arguing for the suspension of the PNC in allowing for negative and positive predications about God. This chapter closely analyzes how we get from Proclus’ affirmation of the PNC to Nicholas of Methone’s suspension of the PNC when referring to the first cause, looking closely at Pseudo-Dionysius as a key figure behind Nicholas’ position. An important, additional background for Ps.-Dionysius is Damascius, who, in contrast to Proclus, argues that the One implies the opposite, positive attributes that come after it, suggesting both affirmative and negative properties predicated of it. Damascius thus suggests what Ps.-Dionysius affirms and what Nicholas of Methone makes explicit in his critique of Proclus, giving us the background for understanding the Byzantine view on contradictory affirmations made about the first cause.

Kapitel in diesem Buch

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Dedication V
  3. Contents VII
  4. Introduction: Facing Contradiction in the Absolute 1
  5. Part I : Asian Philosophy
  6. Transcendental Contradictions: The Spectre of Non-Being in Early to Middle Brāhmanic-Hindu Thought-System 9
  7. “It is Distant, it is Near” – Vedāntic Hindu Visions of Divine Contradictions 39
  8. Contradictions and Certainty: The Mīmāṃsā Defense of the Authorless Veda 61
  9. Buddhism, Emptiness, and Paradox 77
  10. All in One Mind. Huayan’s Holistic Panbuddhism 89
  11. Heidegger and Dōgen on the Ineffable 105
  12. Part II : Christian Philosophy
  13. Contradiction and God Between Neoplatonism and the Byzantine Tradition: Proclus, Pseudo-Dionysius, and Nicholas of Methone 137
  14. The Ways God Overcomes Contradictions in Human Understanding: Nicholas of Cusa 169
  15. Identity and non-Identity of the Human Soul with God in Meister Eckhart’s Metaphysical Mysticism 185
  16. Hegel’s Absolute from a Logical Point of View 211
  17. The One, the Many, and the Trinity: A Dialetheist Response to the Trinitarian Contradiction 221
  18. Part III: Jewish and Islamic Philosophy
  19. “Laud and praise Him justly and uprightly, not by attributing to Him exaggerations and absurdities”: God and logic in Jewish thought 249
  20. On Ayin, or the Divine Nothing 269
  21. Transcendence vs. Immanence in Jewish Philosophy and Poetry 289
  22. God’s attributes; Are aḥwāl contradictory? 297
  23. God and Impossibility: A Classical Ashʿarī Perspective 311
  24. Is Being Contradictory? — Ibn al-ʿArabī and the Principle of Non-Contradiction 347
  25. Contributors
  26. Names Index
  27. Topic Index
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111369983-008

Kapitel in diesem Buch

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Dedication V
  3. Contents VII
  4. Introduction: Facing Contradiction in the Absolute 1
  5. Part I : Asian Philosophy
  6. Transcendental Contradictions: The Spectre of Non-Being in Early to Middle Brāhmanic-Hindu Thought-System 9
  7. “It is Distant, it is Near” – Vedāntic Hindu Visions of Divine Contradictions 39
  8. Contradictions and Certainty: The Mīmāṃsā Defense of the Authorless Veda 61
  9. Buddhism, Emptiness, and Paradox 77
  10. All in One Mind. Huayan’s Holistic Panbuddhism 89
  11. Heidegger and Dōgen on the Ineffable 105
  12. Part II : Christian Philosophy
  13. Contradiction and God Between Neoplatonism and the Byzantine Tradition: Proclus, Pseudo-Dionysius, and Nicholas of Methone 137
  14. The Ways God Overcomes Contradictions in Human Understanding: Nicholas of Cusa 169
  15. Identity and non-Identity of the Human Soul with God in Meister Eckhart’s Metaphysical Mysticism 185
  16. Hegel’s Absolute from a Logical Point of View 211
  17. The One, the Many, and the Trinity: A Dialetheist Response to the Trinitarian Contradiction 221
  18. Part III: Jewish and Islamic Philosophy
  19. “Laud and praise Him justly and uprightly, not by attributing to Him exaggerations and absurdities”: God and logic in Jewish thought 249
  20. On Ayin, or the Divine Nothing 269
  21. Transcendence vs. Immanence in Jewish Philosophy and Poetry 289
  22. God’s attributes; Are aḥwāl contradictory? 297
  23. God and Impossibility: A Classical Ashʿarī Perspective 311
  24. Is Being Contradictory? — Ibn al-ʿArabī and the Principle of Non-Contradiction 347
  25. Contributors
  26. Names Index
  27. Topic Index
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Heruntergeladen am 4.11.2025 von https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783111369983-008/html
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