This article inquires into the specific differences between Plotinus’ and Dionysius’ negative the... more This article inquires into the specific differences between Plotinus’ and Dionysius’ negative theologies and their contemporary philosophical significance. The comparative analysis looks beyond their general similarities to focus on their respective features. Its main thesis is that while Dionysius’ negative theology aims at attaining mystical knowledge of God, Plotinus’ version is intended to dispel the illusion that man can attain henosis. The contemporary interpretation puts Plotinus’ and Dionysius’ negative theologies in the context of analytic epistemology. It is suggested that while both can be understood as criticism of the epistemology of propositional religious belief, Dionysius’ analysis of mystical knowledge of God is closer to virtue epistemology and Plotinus’ approach to man’s ignorance of the One more similar to knowledge-first epistemology.
Plotinus is known as both a philosopher and a mystic, and it is crucial to explain his mysticism ... more Plotinus is known as both a philosopher and a mystic, and it is crucial to explain his mysticism of henosis in the light of his metaphysics of the One. In this dissertation I investigate Plotinus’ mysticism on this approach, while emphasizing that the Enneads is a text of mystical teaching which mediates the reality of henosis by giving spiruitual guidance. Thus, my investigation is orientated by two questions: First, what are the methods of Plotinus’ mystical teaching? Second, how do these methods relate to henosis as their desired goal? I explain these questions in the light of Plotinus’ metaphysics, according to which the One is both transcendent and immanent such that man cannot and need not know It. The conclusions reached are as follows: The methods taught by Plotinus are the practices of philosophy and negative theology, which aim at knowing intelligible beings and the transcendent One. However, these practices do not help man to attain henosis, but remind him that his failure to attain henosis pertains to his natural condition in which he is united with the One. Plotinus’ mystical teaching aims not at transforming man’s finite nature, but at changing man’s preconceptions concerning henosis.
This article inquires into the specific differences between Plotinus’ and Dionysius’ negative the... more This article inquires into the specific differences between Plotinus’ and Dionysius’ negative theologies and their contemporary philosophical significance. The comparative analysis looks beyond their general similarities to focus on their respective features. Its main thesis is that while Dionysius’ negative theology aims at attaining mystical knowledge of God, Plotinus’ version is intended to dispel the illusion that man can attain henosis. The contemporary interpretation puts Plotinus’ and Dionysius’ negative theologies in the context of analytic epistemology. It is suggested that while both can be understood as criticism of the epistemology of propositional religious belief, Dionysius’ analysis of mystical knowledge of God is closer to virtue epistemology and Plotinus’ approach to man’s ignorance of the One more similar to knowledge-first epistemology.
Plotinus is known as both a philosopher and a mystic, and it is crucial to explain his mysticism ... more Plotinus is known as both a philosopher and a mystic, and it is crucial to explain his mysticism of henosis in the light of his metaphysics of the One. In this dissertation I investigate Plotinus’ mysticism on this approach, while emphasizing that the Enneads is a text of mystical teaching which mediates the reality of henosis by giving spiruitual guidance. Thus, my investigation is orientated by two questions: First, what are the methods of Plotinus’ mystical teaching? Second, how do these methods relate to henosis as their desired goal? I explain these questions in the light of Plotinus’ metaphysics, according to which the One is both transcendent and immanent such that man cannot and need not know It. The conclusions reached are as follows: The methods taught by Plotinus are the practices of philosophy and negative theology, which aim at knowing intelligible beings and the transcendent One. However, these practices do not help man to attain henosis, but remind him that his failure to attain henosis pertains to his natural condition in which he is united with the One. Plotinus’ mystical teaching aims not at transforming man’s finite nature, but at changing man’s preconceptions concerning henosis.
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