Faclulty of Philosophy

"The revision of the boundary concepts symbol and image in the philosophy of Maximus the Confessor in respect to the works of Pseudo-Dionysius

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I would like to show with the help of the hermeneutic tool, which I examine – the philosophical concept boundary – the Byzantine thinkers' solution in the face of Maximus the Confessor of the well-known problem with the symbolical interpretation of the sacraments and the Church in The Ecclesiastical Hierarchy by Pseudo-Dionysius the Aeropagite.
By Maximus is to be found one very specific for the Byzantine thinking dynamic asymmetry of the participation and of the indwelling of the energies, based on the unmeasurable difference between the intensity ant the purity of Gods essential energies and the energies of every created nature. Therefore we may say, that the perichoresis acts as a negative boundary, insofar it actually leads to the indefinable dynamic limit of essential energetic interacting between the finite and the infinite nature, without forming any conceptional understanding of the Communion. This prevents the interpretation of the sacraments purely symbolic.
The dynamic of the anagogical symbolism of Dionysius is as much strong as by Maximus, but it always presupposes the distinctive thinking, which has to separate the material part of the symbol and the several sense levels of the invisible part of the boundary symbolic integrity."

CULTURAL “APPEARANCES” AND PHILOSOPHICAL CONCEPTIONS OF THE BORDER-BORDERDOM IN THE EUROPEAN MIDDLE AGES

The paper represents a part of historical and philosophical examination of the problem of the actualization of the border as a cultural appearance, on the one hand, and as a specific philosophical conception in the Middle Ages, on the other hand, which can give us the specific philosophical content of the concept of the borderdom as a dynamic realization of the border, as far as the medieval epoch affords us the opportunity to observe the finest and widest philosophical comprehension and the deepest existential manifestation of the borderdom.
In order to demonstrate our thesis, we examine the basic cultural manifestations of the borderdom, like the symbolism, the Church and the paradox, and the essential philosophical conceptions, especially that of Anselm of Canterbury, of the possibility of rational knowing of the transcendental principle, which conceptions give us the concrete appearance of the medieval philosophical concept of the borderdom. The text contains also an important interact, which presents a link to the specific Byzantine energetic comprehension of the borderdom, by examining the philosophical view of the Church, the Eucharist and the perichoresis.

The Bulgarian school of philosophical medieval studies

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The text represents a brief history of the Bulgarian school of philosophical mediaeval studies, as it includes the specific social and cultural environment, in which the school is formed, the growth of the community in Bulgaria and within the international research of the mediaeval philosophy. The text is focused not only on the work of the school – translations, issues, critic texts, conferences, projects, teaching – but also on its two main characteristics: the condition, that the mediaeval philosophy is studied in its own philosophical and cultural value, and the fact, that the school implements a „mediative translation” between the two great cultural spheres within Mediaeval Christian Europe – the eastern Byzantine and the western Latin philosophical and cultural traditions.

Когато на 4 декември 1926 г. Алберт Айнщайн пише на Макс Борн, че теорията на квантовата механика ни дава много неща, но не ни доближава до тайната на Стареца, обосновавайки се с едно квазирелигиозно съждение "Във всеки случай, убеден съм, че Старият не си играе на зарове." [1], той има много повече предвид "бога на Спиноза" [2], отколкото личностния Бог на християнството. По-късно Айнщайн на няколко пъти изразява открито схващанията си за Бога и характеризира антропоморфното му, по негово мнение, [3] авраамитско представяне на Бога, като по-скоро социо-морален конструкт.

За доброто вникване в отношението, което изследователят на средновековието и на средновековната философия следва да има спрямо функцията на въображението, на първо място е нужно да се отърсим от специфичната двояка предразсъдъчност на схващането, че въображението се припокрива изцяло с представната способност, т. е. има единствено теоретикопознавателно измерение. Енергията на този текст е насочена към очертаването и разясняването също и на другия модус на въображението, често пренебрегван по отношение тъкмо на тази епоха, който играе основна роля в средновековното световъзприятие, наложена от спецификата на съществуващото, такова, каквото средновековният човек не просто го тълкува, но директно го възприема, а именно -екзистенциалната и материална парадоксалност на съществуването, в което се докосват и единяват, без да се смесват, два начина на битие -съвършеното Божествено безкрайно и ущърбното човешко крайно съм.

DER MENSCH – DIE KULMINATION IN DER WIRKUNG
DER SCHÖPFUNG ALS GRENZHEIT
(IOHANNES DER EXARCH, „HEXAMERON“)

Gergana Dineva

(Zusammenfassung)

In diesem Artikel versuchen wir die spezifische Argumentation vom Exarchen Iohannes zu verfolgen, damit wir dadurch klarer zeigen und beweisen können, dass dieses Argumentationslinie auf der eigenartigen mittelalterlichen Auffassung vom Menschen als der Kranz und das Ziel der Schöpfung und als eine wirkende Grenze beruht.
Wir werden zeigen, dass nach Iohannes das Wesen des Menschen - seine Wirklichkeit - sich als eine dynamische Grenze, die nicht nur als eine paradoxe körperlch-geistliche Einheit erscheint, sondern auch als ein ununterbrochenes
erkenntnisches und ontologisches Erheben vom Menschen selbst und von der ganzen Schöpfung durch den Menschen zum Gott zurück wirkt, verwirklicht. Die vorliegende Untersuchung versucht den genauen Mechanismus dieser Grenzverwirklichung zu explizieren und ihn zu deuten.

The present text is intended to be a critical answer to the upcoming article of Giorgio Pini "The Individuation of Angels from Bonaventure to Duns Scotus", where he bases the interpretation of the angelic nature according to Thomas Aquinas on two main premises: first, that the angels are pure forms; and secondly, that only forms, which can be received in matter, can be numerically multiplied.
By focusing on the principle of individuation of intelligible natures, we will try to show, that according to Thomas, the angels are not pure forms, although they are simple forms and species subsistentes. Then we will try to clarify, that his argumentation concerning the principle of individuation of angels is based mostly on the specific understanding of potentiality and actuality and on the view of order of being.

The text will try to show that the concept of “possibility” by John Duns Scotus plays a major role in the new way in which metaphysics begins to be considered, namely its transformation from ontotheology to ontology. Scotus is focusing his argument of God’s existence on the cross point between logic, ontology and the limits of natural reason. The stress that the Doctor Subtilisputs on the boundary of natural human intellect becomes later a major philosophical problem, reconsidered by the scotistic metaphysical tradition and later by the critical theory of Immanuel Kant.
We aim to demonstrate, that the epistemological teaching of Scotus should not be reduced simply to logics, because it has “ontological implications”, that are allowing him to make metaphysical conclusions with the help of arguments, based only on natural reasoning. We examine the usage of the concepts possibility and necessity, the logical law of Scotus and his argument on existence of God and show that the ontological implications within the logical argumentation of the Scottish master allow him to make metaphysical conclusions, which results into the shift between ontotheology to ontology, where the first known by the intellect is maintained to be the univocal concept of being qua being, that is marking the positive boundary of human natural intellect, where logic and ontology coincide and build the ground for metaphysics, understood as scientiatranscendens.


Keywords: Scholasticism; John Duns Scotus; Scotism; High Middle Ages; medieval philosophy; ontology; ontotheology; scientiatranscendens; metaphysics; possibility; modal theory; critical theory; logic.

The present text explores the philosophical context of the conceptual „birth“ of the concept of personality as the primary knowledgeable marker of the unique human being as existential self, different from the common concept of „individual“. We trace the main definitions of the concepts person and later the one of "personalitas", claiming that in the scholastic philosophy of 12th and 13th century one could witness a major development of the definition of "persona", which results in the construction of the perosnalitas concept, inherited later by the early modern and modern philosophical thought as the main term denoting the uniqueness of the human being. For the most part this transformation is to be found in several of the works of the 13th century doctor subtilis John Duns Scotus, whose later influence on the university scholastic and the early modern thinking is considered to be essential by the vast majority of the scholars in history of medieval philosophy. The basis of this conceptual development lies in the new perspective, in which the definition of „person“ is problematized. Scotus uses the tradition of the theological Trinitarian debate very well and introduces the persona concept into the field of anthropology, connecting it to the problem of infinite freedom of will of the finite human being and the possibility of a moral act at all. A fundamental role here plays the concept of incommunicability
(incommunicabilitas), used by Scotus to define the intensity of the ontological freedom, which one finite rational being could possess, and to draw the boundaries allowing and defining the true moral action of each human being as its metaphysical power to realize its own unique existence. The conclusion we reach is that according to Scotus the personal identity is inextricably bound up with the moral action, as far as the human being is actualizing its nature as a single person by exercising its will, because its existence is a contingent and not necessary an independent one.

The current paper will explicate and examine the linkage between the brief reinterpretation of the concepts “teaching” (ad docendum, docere, doctrina) and teacher (magister), conducted by Thomas Aquinas mainly in his Quaestiones disputatae de veritate, question 11, where he refers to the substantial treatise of Augustine De magistro, and the specific character of his contemporary doctrinal and cultural practices, compared to the one, which Augustine knew and had to consider in the time, when he was building his own theory of transmission of knowledge. The work also very briefly outlines the contemporary with Thomas educational and cultural practices, bringing them into comparison with those that were known to Augustine in the time in which he builds his theory of transmission of knowledge.
The text aims to show the interpretational turn that Thomas Aquinas undertakes, in order to preserve the main Augustinian thesis that God is the ultimate intrinsic teacher, but at the same time, using Aristotle’s theory of potency, to open the possibility for the human being to be a teacher. Thomas demonstrates that one person could teach another not in the role of an internal cause, but as an external secondary cause, as the teacher only helps the learner to activate his own intrinsic power of knowledge acquisition, inborn to him as an active potency (potentia activa).

The paper makes a short overview of the first usages of the persona concept in the Western philosophical tradition, starting with Tertullian, the Cappadocian Fathers and Augustine. It is demonstrated that all of these initial usages are lacking the status of clearly defined philosophical concepts. The en is presented the first definition of persona in the Latin thought, which is formulated by Boethius in his famous Treatise Contra Eutychen et Nestorium. The focus of the text falls on the critique of Boethian definition by Richard of St. Victor in his treatise De Trinitate, and on his own definition, given at the same place, which promotes the incommunicability as the essential property of the person. We are especially emphasizing the major importance of the conceptual separation that Richard does between persona and substantia. The latter has a great impact on the development of the personality concept, which is later adopted and unfolded by a number of Western philosophers, including Peter John Olivi, John Duns Scotus and Immanuel Kant.

Keywords: person; personality; identity; Self; Boethius; Cappadocian Fathers; Augustine; Duns Scotus; Trinity; Trinitarian debate; substance; incommunicability.

This paper aims to be a discussion-opener. It is making a statement that should be examined further about the very plausible connection between the contemporary crisis in aesthetics as a philosophical discipline and the breaking of the philosophical relation between the idea of contingency as a condition for the human autonomous act and the art. This idea is based on the interrelation between the free will and the dignity of the person, as understood within the metaphysics of ens morale, and the value of any creative act.
As an introductory demonstration of this interrelation, we propose the short but important elaboration on what is an act of art by Francisco Suárez in his De bonitate et malitia humanorum actuum (sect. 1, n. 17.). There we see that the value of the act of art acquires a double significance – on the one hand, the designation of an object as a work of art depends entirely on the conscious autonomous intention of the artist to create it, and on the other hand – the evaluation of each object of art depends on the knowledge and the will invested uniquely by the author in this particular object as a result of a unique creative act. In order to clarify the context of Suárez’ view, we also explicate the essence of the synchronic contingency, developed earlier by John Duns Scotus.

The present text outlines one possible interpretation of the Augustinian
concepts of freedom and free will. What at first glance seems
paradoxically incompatible within Augustine’s position, could be
viewed as a result of his attempt to bring into line in the most consistent
way the teachings of Scripture, especially of the New Testament,
with the inherited powerful substantial-naturalist philosophical
tradition of the Ancient thought. It is this specific hybridity
of Augustine’s context that allows him to create a solid bridge
between the classical Platonic-Aristotelian onto-realist philosophy
of man and the Late Medieval philosophy of man as an ens morale.

The present study will very briefly contextualize the problem of human free will and Divine providence within Jewish philosophy and will present Maimonides‘ central solution, explicating the specifics of his view, which, being part of the coherent Jewish tradition of thought, can generally be defined as „standard“, but also has an additional argumentative element. To date, this specific argument has given rise to a debate among scholars as to whether it is sufficient and whether Maimonides‘ decision remains unclear. In this regard, we propose a possible interpretation that reveals the argument as clear and sufficient if examined in the context of the overall teaching of the medieval thinker.

съвременните общества са проследени от редица изследователи, съсредоточаващи своето внимание върху социалните мрежови инфраструктури като FLICKR и Face Book, както и върху практики като блогинга, във връзка със онлайн субкултурното развитие. Често пренебрегван феномен обаче са юношите със социални, физически и психически увреждания, които създават свои собствени кибер пространства за онлайн общуване и осигуряване на подкрепа. Про-ана сайтовете, като единствени по рода си мрежи със спорно и често критикувано съдържание, са създадени от момичетата, които живеят, приемайки и (понякога) насърчавайки хранителните разстройства (ХР). 1 Характерни за повечето сайтове са секциите с thinspirations (снимки на слаби популярни личности или диагностицирани анорексички), съвети и трикове (за отслабване и прикриване на състоянието), както и квазирелигиозни наративи (като молитва към Ана, Висши заповеди и пр.). Интерактивният елемент на про-ана сайтовете се състои от редица форуми и табла за съобщения, където потребителите публикуват информация несинхронизирано, под формата на отделни теми, които слабо (ако изобщо) се контролират от надзорен орган -модератор. Редица сайтове разполагат също с блогове, персонализирани бюлетини или журнали, често свързани в блог рингове. По-рядко се срещат интерактивни форуми за синхронна комуникация, като мигновени съобщения и чат стаи, които винаги са защитени с парола и изискват потребителите да се регистрират като членове с цел достъп до и участие в общността. Популярността на про-ана сайтове изглежда произтича от необичайната и безпрецедентна възможност, която те предлагат -да съберат заедно индивиди с ХР в неутрална среда, изчистена от натиска на здравните специалисти и значимите други, фокусирани върху възстановяването от ХР като самоцел. 2 Една от основните трудности при анализиране на про-ана дискурса е, че той е крайно противоречив. Някои сайтове твърдят, че анорексията не е заболяване, а избор и начина на живот, докато други я идентифицира като заболяване, носещо им идентичност, чувство на гордост или пък болка и страдание. Някои сайтове представят анорексията като про-активен начин за постигане на власт и щастие, а други -като нормален и реалистичен начин за постигане на обществения идеал за красота, който ни се натрапва: "Общество казва, че трябва да бъда слаба, така че работя по въпроса". 2 Като цяло, про-ана движението определя болестта като форма на самоконтрол, а не самоунищожение и играе активна роля в защита на правото за репрезентация в публичното пространство. Терминът про-ана се отнася до правото да бъдеш анорексичка и да представяш движението и идентичността си пред обществото. Това право се мисли от пост-феминисткото движение като източник на овластяване, но, според медиите и медицинския дискурс, то е пагубно за общественото здраве.