Αρετολογία και μεταφυσική: οι οντολογικές προϋποθέσεις των αντιλήψεων περί της αρετής στους ασκητικούς συγγραφείς της πρωτοβυζαντινής περιόδου

Abstract

The topic of this Dissertation concerns the relation of Metaphysics (especially Christian Metaphysics) to Virtue Ethics in the ascetical writings of the Byzantine Church Fathers from the 4rth to the 6th century. In particular, the writings of Evagrius Ponticus, Neilus of Ankyra, Diadochus of Photice and Ioannis Climacus are analyzed, discussed and related to the Virtue Ethics and Metaphysics of Ancient Greek Philosophy and especially Plato’s, Aristotle’s, the Stoics’ and the Neoplatonists’.Evagrius Ponticus writes that virtues reflect the spiritual health of man and that man cannot be virtuous by the reflecting and willing the evil. Utilizing the Platonic and Aristotelian conceptions of Virtue, he also emphasizes that virtues are the middle way and so the medium or a necessary condition for approaching and uniting mystically with God. According to Neilus of Ankyra, virtue ethics must not be conceived in an anthropocentric way, but in a theocentric one, and so virtue does not depend only on the ethical achievements of man, but on divine grace and on the personal relation of man to God. In the virtue ethics of Diadochus Photice, the notion of self-rule (αυτεξούσιον) is of paramount importance for the creative progress in one’s moral perfection. With the proper use of self-rule man can escape sin and turn himself to love. In addition, Diadochus also uses the notion of apatheia (απάθεια) to indicate the way for a successful cleansing (κάθαρση) of the soul, so that with this cleansing man can grasp the logoi (λόγοι) of beings. For Ioannis Climacus, virtues are akin to the human soul. Even after the Fall many “natural virtues” are preserved in human nature. But the perfection of the soul can be achieved only through the cultivation of all the virtues, and especially progressing from the partial to the more general ones with the purpose of achieving the perfect virtue and most general of all, that of Love (Αγάπη). Early ascetic thought as found in the writings of the above mentioned Byzantine Ascetic Fathers has integrated much of the framework of pre-Christian Ancient Greek philosophical thought and placed it in the Christian metaphysical context. Consequently, the Platonic, Aristotelian, Stoic and Neo-platonic concepts of Virtue became the object of further elaboration and were the context within which the ascetic Christian conception of virtue evolved. The ancient Greek concept of Virtue, which included courage, temperance, prudence and justice, was now complemented by the metaphysical virtues of love, hope and faith, which are a focal point for the proper interpretation of Christian Virtue Theory.