Transcript
Kalogiratou, Androniki, Theology in Philosophy: The Case of the Late Antique Neoplatonist Damascius (2007). Skepsis, ΧVIIΙ, i-ii, 2007, 58-79. Abstract: In this paper I position Damascius on the map of philosophy versus theology. We assume that philosophers usually argue about their points in order to prove them and thus persuade others. Theologians on the other hand, feel that they can communicate with God or experience his presence and thus cannot argue about his existence or topics pertaining to it. They can persuade others by communicating the knowledge they gained through revelation or experience. In my view, Damascius is to be found in the middle of these two approaches: the philosopher and the theologian. On one hand he argues about the first principles of the universe, from which the sensible, spiritual and intelligible worlds derive. On the other hand, he claims that one cannot experience the ultimate principle nor talk about it, since it is unknowable by religious experience. However, he ascribes to the view that one can communicate with the spiritual world and that there exist divine forces at large. Even though he is willing to communicate these lesser truths to his readers, he is unable or unwilling to communicate his views about matters of more gravity, such as the first or ultimate principle: the Unknowable, the One. Also available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2121421
