In Search of the Good : The Role of Recognition in Proclus and Maximus the Confessor
Riggs, T. (2016). In Search of the Good : The Role of Recognition in Proclus and Maximus the Confessor. Open Theology, 2, 457-470. https://doi.org/10.1515/opth-2016-0037
Published in
Open TheologyAuthors
Date
2016Copyright
© 2016 Timothy Riggs
The concept of recognition is increasing in importance in political and social philosophy as a means of explaining and dealing conceptually with the problems of multiculturalism. Nevertheless, the phenomena which this concept signifies, namely human capacities for intersubjectivity, belong to human beings even before the development of the modern concept. This article explores how the content of the concept of recognition plays a role in two Platonic philosophies of Late Antiquity, those of the Neoplatonic philosopher Proclus and the Christian philosopher, monk and theologian Maximus the Confessor. It is shown that their versions of a metaphysics of the Good provides the foundation for a moral and ethical vision of human life which makes recognitive judgements – which make acts of recognition possible – a necessity for human action. Although proper recognition pertains to the rational recognition of the First Cause as the true end of all human action, nevertheless Proclus and Maximus make recognitive judgements not only possible but a necessary function of even the lower, irrational faculties of soul. In this way, they explain how human beings have an innate capacity at all levels of cognition for recognizing things and other people as goods to be pursued or avoided.
...
Publisher
De GruyterISSN Search the Publication Forum
2300-6579Keywords
Publication in research information system
https://converis.jyu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/33089561
Metadata
Show full item recordCollections
License
Related items
Showing items with similar title or keywords.
-
Searching for the human factor : psychology, power and ideology in Hungary during the early Kádár period
Laine-Frigren, Tuomas (University of Jyväskylä, 2016) -
The Influence of the Avicennan Theory of Science on Philosophical Sufism : The Concept of the Divine Science in Qūnawī and Fanārī
Daşdemir, Yusuf (Brill, 2020)This article discusses the application of the Avicennan theory of demonstrative science on taṣawwuf, or the Divine Science (al-ʿilm al-ilāhī), by members of the Akbarian tradition, particularly Ibn ʿArabī’s (d. 1240) stepson ... -
Suggested metatheory for positive psychology : The organismic systems theory
Maurer, Mia M. (International Journal of Wellbeing, 2024)Positive psychology has been criticized among other things for its lack of a metatheory that would explicate its underlying philosophical assumptions and epistemology as well as give direction for methodology and the forming ... -
The Philosophical Underpinning of Athlete Lifestyle Support : An Existential-Humanistic Perspective
Devaney, Darren J.; Nesti, Mark Stephen; Ronkainen, Noora J.; Littlewood, Martin A.; Richardson, David (Human Kinetics, 2022)This study aims to highlight how an existential-humanistic perspective can inform athlete support and in doing so, emphasize the importance of explicating the philosophical underpinnings of athlete lifestyle support. Drawing ... -
Notions of artist as the hero : a Nietzschean reading on the philosophical relationship of Otto Rank and Sigmund Freud
Moilanen, Lauri Anssi (2019)The goal of this study is to explore the development of Otto Rank's (1884-1939) philosophy through his shifting conceptions of heroism. The focus is specifically on the notion of Artist as the Hero. The investigation is ...