Hellenic and Hellenistic Origins in the Aesthetics of Pseudo-Dionysius

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

PhD Candidate of Philosophy of Religious Art, University of Religions and Denominations (URD), Qom, Iran

Abstract

Text This article studies the Hellenic and Hellenistic sources of Pseudo-Dionysius on Beautiful, and its purpose is to clarify the extent of the influence of the philosophy of Plato, Aristotle, Plotinus and Proclus on aesthetics in the thought system of Dionysius. This purpose is pursued through a descriptive-comparative-analytical method and The method of collecting information is also library and documentary. The result obtained from this study shows the complete predominance of Hellenic and Hellenistic aesthetics on the thinking of this medieval thinker; Although it has used them in a new structure. Among the influences of these philosophers on Dionysius’s aesthetics can be mentioned; The Transcendent Beautiful, the difference between Beautiful and beauty, Beautiful as being cause and the ultimate cause of everything, the way and types of movement in the arc of ascent and descent, the relationship of the One with Good and Beautiful, the unity of Beautiful and being beautiful in the order of divine nature, the interplay of light and Beautiful, the role of love as a factor of connection and movement towards Beautiful, belief in beauty in the essence of matter, entanglement of light and beauty in Hierarchical system of descending arc.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

Aristotle. (2018a). The Physics, trans. Mohammad Hasan Lotfi, Tehran: Tarh-e-no. (in Persian)
Aristotle. (2018b). Metaphysics, trans. Mohammad Hasan Lotfi, Tehran: Tarh-e-no. (in Persian)
Coomaraswamy, Ananda K. (1938). “Mediaeval Aesthetic: II. St. Thomas Aquinas on Dionysius, and a Note on the Relation of Beauty to Truth.” The Art Bulletin. 20(1): 66-77. https://doi.org/10.2307/3046562
Copleston, Frederick. (2009). A History of Philosophy, vol. 1, trans. Seyyed Jalaloddin Mojtabavi, Tehran: Elmi-Farhangi (in Persian)
Copleston, Frederick. (2009). A History of Philosophy, vol. 2, trans. Ebrahim Dadjoo, Tehran: Elmi-Farhangi. (in Persian)
Etienne, Gilson. (2016). History of Christian Philosophy in the Middle age, trans. Reza Gandomi Nasrabadi, Iran, Qom: The university of religions and denomination and Tehran: Samt. (in Persian)
Gardner, Helen. (2005). Art through the age, revised by Horst de la Croix and Richard G. Tansey, trans. Mohammad Taghi Faramarzi, Tehran: Agah. (in Persian)
Gombrich, E. H. (2008). The story of art, trans. Ali Ramin, Tehran: Ney. (in Persian)
Hyland, Drew A. (2008). Plato and the question of Beauty, Indiana University Press.
Ivanovic, Filip. (2014). “The eternally and uniquely beautiful: Dionysius the Areopagite’s.” International Journal of Philosophy and Theology. 75(3): 188–204. https://doi.org/10.1080/21692327.2014.971046
Mojtahedi, Karim. (2011). Philosophy in the Middle age (a coll. of essays), Tehran: Amir Kabir. (in Persian)
Plato. (2001). Plato's Complete Works, 4 vol., trans. Mohammad Hasan Lotfi and Reza Kaviani, Tehran: Khārazmi. (in Persian)
Plato. (2006). The Symposium, trans. Mohammad Ali Foroughi, Tehran: Jāmi. (in Persian)
Plato. (2009). Republic. Trans. Fouad Rouhani, Tehran: Elmi-Farhangi. (in Persian)
Plotinus. (2010). Plotinus's Complete Works. 2 vol., translated by Mohammad Hassan Lotfi and Reza Kaviani, Tehran: Khārazmi. (in Persian)
Plotinus. (2018). The Enneads. edit. Lloyd P. Gerson. George Boys-Stone and others, Cambridge University press.
Proclus. (1816). Six Books of Proclus on the Theology of Plato: with The Elements of Theology, trans. Thomas Taylor, London.
Pseudo-Dionysius. (1987). Pseudo-Dionysius: the complete works, trans. Colm Luibheid, New York, Mahwah: Paulist Press.
Sammon, Brendan Thomas. (2014). The God Who is Beauty; Beauty as a Divine Name in Thomas Aquinas and Dionysius the Areopagite, James Clarke & Co.
Tatarkiewicz, Wladyslaw. (2017). History of Aesthetics, vol. 2, edit. Breet, C. T, trans. Hadi Rabiei, Tehran: Minoo-ye Kherad. (in Persian)
Send comment about this article
CAPTCHA Image
Journal of Philosophical Investigations
Volume 16, Issue 39 - Serial Number 39
Special Issue
Special Issue: Philosophy of Education (In Persian)
September 2022
Pages 480-494

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics