Foreign Studies of the Anthropology of Maxim the Confessor

Abstract

Maxim the Confessor (580–662) is an outstanding thinker, continuer of the tradition of the last ancient Neo-Platonists, author of the Byzantine philosophical and theological synthesis, which became the subject of special researches in the works of eminent domestic and foreign scholars. The study of Maxim's creative heritage has undergone a certain evolution in science. From the beginning (in the 1850s) of the scientific study of the legacy of this eminent thinker and until the mid-1960s, the efforts of scholars were aimed at reconstructing Maxim's theological system. From 1965 to the beginning of the 1980s the stage of interest in the anthropology of Maxim continued. At the same time, since 1960, the ground has been prepared for the latest stage in the research of Maxim's work, namely the study of his works as a monument to the last stage of the development of the philosophy of ancient Neo-Platonists. In this article, we aim to carry out a historical and philosophical analysis of foreign studies of the work of Maxim the Confessor of the second stage of scientific study (1965–84).