Corporeal vision and contemplation in the epistemological context: a comparison of the “Homilies on the Psalms” by Origen and saint Basil of Caesarea
The article considers on the material of the “Homilies on the Psalms” of Origen and saint Basil of Caesarea the use of vocabulary of visual sense in an epistemological context, including the concept of “contemplation”, which goes back to the ancient philosophical tradition. Thus, the aim of the pape...
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St. Tikhon's Orthodox University
2022-12-01
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| Series: | Вестник Православного Свято-Тихоновского гуманитарного университета: Серия I. Богословие, философия |
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| Online Access: | https://periodical.pstgu.ru/ru/pdf/article/7887 |
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| author | Anna Grünert |
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| description | The article considers on the material of the “Homilies on the Psalms” of Origen and saint Basil of Caesarea the use of vocabulary of visual sense in an epistemological context, including the concept of “contemplation”, which goes back to the ancient philosophical tradition. Thus, the aim of the paper is to explain the philosophical meaning of this concept as the highest stage on the path of knowledge as well as its place in the epistemological systems of both authors. On the basis of the description of cognitive processes by early Christian writers we discovered a number of patterns in the composition of the semantic field of vision as the sense that participates in the act of knowledge. At the same time, our study demonstrates that the use of both the concept of “contemplation” and the vocabulary of visual sense partially fits into the philosophical division of the neoplatonic curriculum: while the study by bodily vision of the sensuous world created by God is associated with physics, the contemplation as a study of the supersensuous world by supersensory vision is associated with epoptics. However, in the explanations we have examined, these three steps are never mentioned in a row, in contrast to other texts where Origen and saint Basil follow the scheme of ethics-physics-epoptics. As texts that serves as the basis for comparing the Christian reception of the vocabulary of visual sense in patristic literature of the 3rd and 4th centuries AD we choosed not only the exegetic sermons of individual psalms by Origen and saint Basil of Caesarea, but also a selection of other texts of the same authors representing relevant parallels in their use of vocabulary of visual sense. From the point of view of its scientific relevance, this study is also important because it shows the dependence of the “Homilies on the Psalms” by saint Basil of Caesarea upon the “Homilies on the Psalms” by Origen discovered in 2012 in the Codex Monacensis Graecus 314. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-11e17721a4544879bab99fad1043b294 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 1991-640X 2409-4692 |
| language | Russian |
| publishDate | 2022-12-01 |
| publisher | St. Tikhon's Orthodox University |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Вестник Православного Свято-Тихоновского гуманитарного университета: Серия I. Богословие, философия |
| spelling | doaj-art-11e17721a4544879bab99fad1043b2942025-08-20T02:52:28ZrusSt. Tikhon's Orthodox UniversityВестник Православного Свято-Тихоновского гуманитарного университета: Серия I. Богословие, философия1991-640X2409-46922022-12-011021021128http://dx.doi.org/10.15382/sturI2022102.11-283Corporeal vision and contemplation in the epistemological context: a comparison of the “Homilies on the Psalms” by Origen and saint Basil of CaesareaAnna Grünert0HSE University; Moscow, RussiaThe article considers on the material of the “Homilies on the Psalms” of Origen and saint Basil of Caesarea the use of vocabulary of visual sense in an epistemological context, including the concept of “contemplation”, which goes back to the ancient philosophical tradition. Thus, the aim of the paper is to explain the philosophical meaning of this concept as the highest stage on the path of knowledge as well as its place in the epistemological systems of both authors. On the basis of the description of cognitive processes by early Christian writers we discovered a number of patterns in the composition of the semantic field of vision as the sense that participates in the act of knowledge. At the same time, our study demonstrates that the use of both the concept of “contemplation” and the vocabulary of visual sense partially fits into the philosophical division of the neoplatonic curriculum: while the study by bodily vision of the sensuous world created by God is associated with physics, the contemplation as a study of the supersensuous world by supersensory vision is associated with epoptics. However, in the explanations we have examined, these three steps are never mentioned in a row, in contrast to other texts where Origen and saint Basil follow the scheme of ethics-physics-epoptics. As texts that serves as the basis for comparing the Christian reception of the vocabulary of visual sense in patristic literature of the 3rd and 4th centuries AD we choosed not only the exegetic sermons of individual psalms by Origen and saint Basil of Caesarea, but also a selection of other texts of the same authors representing relevant parallels in their use of vocabulary of visual sense. From the point of view of its scientific relevance, this study is also important because it shows the dependence of the “Homilies on the Psalms” by saint Basil of Caesarea upon the “Homilies on the Psalms” by Origen discovered in 2012 in the Codex Monacensis Graecus 314.https://periodical.pstgu.ru/ru/pdf/article/7887epistemology late antique philosophy neoplatonism patristic philosophy saint basil of caesarea contemplation explanations on the psalmsэпистемология позднеантичная философия неоплатонизм патристическая философия ориген свт. василий великий созерцание толкования на псалмы |
| spellingShingle | Anna Grünert Corporeal vision and contemplation in the epistemological context: a comparison of the “Homilies on the Psalms” by Origen and saint Basil of Caesarea Вестник Православного Свято-Тихоновского гуманитарного университета: Серия I. Богословие, философия epistemology late antique philosophy neoplatonism patristic philosophy saint basil of caesarea contemplation explanations on the psalms эпистемология позднеантичная философия неоплатонизм патристическая философия ориген свт. василий великий созерцание толкования на псалмы |
| title | Corporeal vision and contemplation in the epistemological context: a comparison of the “Homilies on the Psalms” by Origen and saint Basil of Caesarea |
| title_full | Corporeal vision and contemplation in the epistemological context: a comparison of the “Homilies on the Psalms” by Origen and saint Basil of Caesarea |
| title_fullStr | Corporeal vision and contemplation in the epistemological context: a comparison of the “Homilies on the Psalms” by Origen and saint Basil of Caesarea |
| title_full_unstemmed | Corporeal vision and contemplation in the epistemological context: a comparison of the “Homilies on the Psalms” by Origen and saint Basil of Caesarea |
| title_short | Corporeal vision and contemplation in the epistemological context: a comparison of the “Homilies on the Psalms” by Origen and saint Basil of Caesarea |
| title_sort | corporeal vision and contemplation in the epistemological context a comparison of the homilies on the psalms by origen and saint basil of caesarea |
| topic | epistemology late antique philosophy neoplatonism patristic philosophy saint basil of caesarea contemplation explanations on the psalms эпистемология позднеантичная философия неоплатонизм патристическая философия ориген свт. василий великий созерцание толкования на псалмы |
| url | https://periodical.pstgu.ru/ru/pdf/article/7887 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT annagrunert corporealvisionandcontemplationintheepistemologicalcontextacomparisonofthehomiliesonthepsalmsbyorigenandsaintbasilofcaesarea |