The Ways of Byzantine Philosophy. Edited by Mikonja Knežević.

Abstract

In the past, Byzantine philosophy has not been taken seriously enough by Western scholars, in spite of the obvious influence of Byzantine thinkers on medieval philosophers such as Eriugena. Now that an increasing number of critical editions of Byzantine authors are being published, there has been, since the end of the twentieth century, a renewed interest. It should be stressed that Byzantine philosophy is not monolithic; one should rather think of a gemstone with many facets. This limited edition of 1,000 copies is published by the Western American Diocese of the Serbian Orthodox Church. Many of the contributors are Serbian or Bulgarian; most of the others are either Russian or Greek. There is a section at the end of the book containing useful biographical details of the 24 contributors, although this is unfortunately not shown in the list of contents. These scholars have a wide experience in the field. In the Eastern churches there are no philosophical schools in the sense that there have been in the West, hence there is a variety of different teachings and ways of life. The authors of the papers presented here cover all periods of Byzantine thought, from Gregory of Nyssa up to the fifteenth century. The topics range from ontology to the icons at Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, including, of course, Ps.-Dionysius, Maximus the Confessor, John Damascene, and Gregory Palamas.