Christianity and Platonism. The dualism of mind and body in A.F. Losev's interpretation of Plato's "Symposium" Keywords: spiritual corporeity, Platonic Eros, gnoseological ontologism, Christian Platonism, God-manhood, personality. The report is devoted to the analysis of Platonic Eros in the A.F. Losev’s early work "Eros u Platona" (1916). In the Platonic Eros, as well as in the entire ancient thought, Losev considers the strive to find a point of connection between idea and matter, body and soul. In particular, in the dialogue "Symposium" this connection takes places at the level of love desire, in other words, erotic love becomes a model of all knowledge, as a connection between two levels of existence, understood here as a doctrine of the relation of ideas and things. Therefore, this dialogue represents one of the highest expressions of Plato's theory of knowledge. In this sense it can be understood Losev's statement according to which “Eros - <...> is the proto-myth of Plato's theory of ideas”. In fact, compared with other dialogues, in the "Symposium" the doctrine of Eros as an intermediate moment puts the emphasis on the dynamic synthesis of reality, which is, according to Losev's interpretation, a solution to the problem of synthesis of stability and becoming, as it was in ancient thought, trying to relate Eleatic pure being and Heraclitean endless flow. Losevian definition of Eros as "spiritual corporeality" not only reveals a substantial monism in Losev's interpretation of Plato, but also his Christian point of view in understanding the relationship of matter and ideas, largely based on the doctrine of God-manhood. The reference to Solov’ev represented for Losev a significant historical argument in favour of his teaching about the ontological bound of two levels, ideal and real, which in later works was developed in the idea of personality. In essence, Losev’s criticism consist in the fact that Plato's doctrine suffers from abstraction in the interpretation the relation between Eros and what is generated from it, which essentially is due to the "statuary" character of ancient symbolism. Therefore, it would remain unsolved the connection between two levels, human and divine, created and uncreated. According to Losev, this represents the real drama of Plato’s thought: what is a divine-human relation, to use Solov’ev’s terminology, is reduced to created links between people because of the pagan context of his thinking. Such a judgment on Plato's doctrine depends on the particular interpretation of Losev ancient symbolism, which has a "sculptural" character. This statuary nature of the Ancient Greek world view implies an interpretation of Eros in an essentially pantheistic sense that excludes the overall transformation of the living body, which was supposed to be the highest level of the erotic steps. Only Christianity, as concrete synthesis of man and God, body and spirit, can realize authentic spiritual corporeality, that is the embodiment of pure ideas in the world. Consequently, the latter can be seen as the implementation and completion of Plato's philosophical project.
Christianstvo i platonizm. Dualizm ducha i tela v losevskoj interpretacii Platonovskogo “Pira” / Rimondi, Giorgia. - STAMPA. - (2016), pp. 30-31. (Intervento presentato al convegno Meždunarodnaja naučnaja platonovskaja konferencija (convegno platonico internazionale di Mosca) tenutosi a Mosca nel 15-17.09.2016).
Christianstvo i platonizm. Dualizm ducha i tela v losevskoj interpretacii Platonovskogo “Pira”
RIMONDI, Giorgia
2016-01-01
Abstract
Christianity and Platonism. The dualism of mind and body in A.F. Losev's interpretation of Plato's "Symposium" Keywords: spiritual corporeity, Platonic Eros, gnoseological ontologism, Christian Platonism, God-manhood, personality. The report is devoted to the analysis of Platonic Eros in the A.F. Losev’s early work "Eros u Platona" (1916). In the Platonic Eros, as well as in the entire ancient thought, Losev considers the strive to find a point of connection between idea and matter, body and soul. In particular, in the dialogue "Symposium" this connection takes places at the level of love desire, in other words, erotic love becomes a model of all knowledge, as a connection between two levels of existence, understood here as a doctrine of the relation of ideas and things. Therefore, this dialogue represents one of the highest expressions of Plato's theory of knowledge. In this sense it can be understood Losev's statement according to which “Eros - <...> is the proto-myth of Plato's theory of ideas”. In fact, compared with other dialogues, in the "Symposium" the doctrine of Eros as an intermediate moment puts the emphasis on the dynamic synthesis of reality, which is, according to Losev's interpretation, a solution to the problem of synthesis of stability and becoming, as it was in ancient thought, trying to relate Eleatic pure being and Heraclitean endless flow. Losevian definition of Eros as "spiritual corporeality" not only reveals a substantial monism in Losev's interpretation of Plato, but also his Christian point of view in understanding the relationship of matter and ideas, largely based on the doctrine of God-manhood. The reference to Solov’ev represented for Losev a significant historical argument in favour of his teaching about the ontological bound of two levels, ideal and real, which in later works was developed in the idea of personality. In essence, Losev’s criticism consist in the fact that Plato's doctrine suffers from abstraction in the interpretation the relation between Eros and what is generated from it, which essentially is due to the "statuary" character of ancient symbolism. Therefore, it would remain unsolved the connection between two levels, human and divine, created and uncreated. According to Losev, this represents the real drama of Plato’s thought: what is a divine-human relation, to use Solov’ev’s terminology, is reduced to created links between people because of the pagan context of his thinking. Such a judgment on Plato's doctrine depends on the particular interpretation of Losev ancient symbolism, which has a "sculptural" character. This statuary nature of the Ancient Greek world view implies an interpretation of Eros in an essentially pantheistic sense that excludes the overall transformation of the living body, which was supposed to be the highest level of the erotic steps. Only Christianity, as concrete synthesis of man and God, body and spirit, can realize authentic spiritual corporeality, that is the embodiment of pure ideas in the world. Consequently, the latter can be seen as the implementation and completion of Plato's philosophical project.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.