International Network for Byzantine Philosophy

The Pythagoras Byzantinus research project aims to fill an important gap in our knowledge and understanding of the history and forms of reception of Pythagoras and Pythagoreanism in Middle and Late Byzantium, a gap that has been highlighted in the international academic bibliography. In contrast to other Medieval traditions (Latin, Arabic, Syriac and Jewish), the reception of Pythagoras and Pythagoreanism in Byzantium has not yet been studied systematically. In the relevant bibliography, there are only sporadic or fragmentary references to Pythagorean resonances in Middle and Late Byzantine texts, while the number of articles dealing with it is still extremely limited. At the same time, eminent contemporary historians of philosophy have repeatedly stressed the need to explore this rather understudied thematic field. In order to fill this existing research gap and improve our understanding of the reception of Pythagoras and Pythagoreanism in Middle and Late Byzantium, this project will

Edited by Eva Anagnostou-Laoutides and Ken Parry, Later Platonists and their Heirs among Christians, Jews and Muslims  (Brill, 2023) offers a thought-provoking exploration of the reception of Platonism among communities of faith from early Christianity to the sixteenth century, from the Byzantine East to the Latin West. Rare emphasis is placed on the importance of Platonic thought and its diffusion in late antique and medieval Syria, Armenia, and Georgia but also among Arab and Jewish intellectuals from the seventh century onwards. As such, the volume makes a statement against the separation of Neoplatonic philosophy from Christianity and the other Abrahamic faiths, since all four traditions promoted a life of virtue and goodness despite operating under different divine auspices. The volume seeks to establish paths of transmission and modes of adaptation across times and places. Further information about the volume is available here .

John of Damascus: More than a Compiler (Brill, 2022), challenges the assumption that the eighth-century theologian, St John Damascene, was no more than a compiler of tradition. It explores the ways in which John made his sources his own, his reception history, his biography, his philosophic appropriation and unique contribution, and his influence on subsequent generations. The essays in the second part of the volume show how John’s theological vision was intrinsically linked to Byzantine philosophy. Further information is available here (Brill webpage).

In the sixth volume of  A History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps , Byzantine and Renaissance Philosophy , Peter Adamson introduces the thinkers and movements of Byzantium and the Italian Renaissance. Adamson focuses on John of Damascus in the eighth century and the late Byzantine scholars of the fifteenth century. Insofar as the philosophers of Byzantium sparked the humanist movement in Italy. Figures such as Christine de Pizan, Niccolò Machiavelli, Giordano Bruno, and Galileo are examined alongside lesser known figures, including Lorenzo Valla, Girolamo Savonarola, and Bernardino Telesio. Major historical themes include the humanist engagement with ancient literature, the emergence of women humanists, the flowering of Republican government in Renaissance Italy, the continuation of Aristotelian and scholastic philosophy alongside humanism, and breakthroughs in science.  https://global.oup.com/academic/product/byzantine-and-renaissance-philosophy-9780192856418?cc=au&lang=en&  

An exciting new project known as the Sourcebook of Byzantine Philosophy (SBPh) is underway, led by Katerina Ierodiakonou, Pantelis Golitsis, Ioannis Papachristou and Dafni Argyri. According to the SBPh team, Byzantine philosophy is still overlooked by the history of philosophy. For Byzantine philosophy to be properly studied and appreciated, a SBPh, which collects the key texts of Byzantine thinkers in an accessible edition, is essential. The SBPh will contain selected Byzantine philosophical texts in the original and in English translation, and will place these texts in their historical context. Selected texts will cover the period from the 8th century to the 15th century, exploring the areas of logic, theory of knowledge, metaphysics, natural philosophy, psychology, ethics and politics. To learn more about the project, peruse the SBPh website: https://byphil.gr/ 

  A fascinating excerpt from John Panteleimon Manoussakis, The Ethics of Time: A Phenomenology and Hermeneutics of Change (Bloomsbury Press, 2017). The antinomic unity of heaven and hell was first introduced by Origen in one of his early writings, the Exhortation to Martyrdom , and was further developed in his refutation of Celsus. In the Exhortation to Martyrdom we meet the idea of the self ’s division (διαίρεσις) and separation (χωρισμός) from itself, or at least from a part of itself. Already at this nascent stage, this theory is invoking the scriptural passage of 1 Cor. 3:10–15. Later in the same work the idea of the coincidence of salvation and condemnation is articulated with the aid of a double metaphor: that of the word of God as a sword that cuts through the self ’s interiority (based on Heb. 4:12), and that of God as a purifying fi re (attested in a number of scriptural passages). These two metaphors are then combined in order to support the theory that, at the end of time