Mystical Love in Philo of Alexandria/Iubirea mistică la Filon din Alexandria
Autor: Stephan Hecht
Pagini: 5-20
Abstract:
Philo of Alexandria is one of the most influential Jewish thinkers of the ancient
world rediscovered by scholarship for his role in shaping early Christian and patristic
thought in the past 30 years. In this article, I try to elaborate on his concept of mystical love
by illuminating three areas where love reveals itself in his allegorical interpretations of the
Tora. Starting with natural love and anthropological considerations, I will show how a negative
concept of love expressed in yearning of the individual for his archetype can be transformed
into the experience of mystical love by right opinion and knowledge of God, motivating
authentic ethical conduct and revealing the human soul as a temple for the divine. As I
will show at the end, Philo identifies himself as a mystical theorist whose own mystical experiences
must be read as the background to his understanding of love.
Philosophical Eros, tyrannical Eros, and pleasure (hêdonê) in Plato’s Symposium and Republic/Eros filosofic, eros tiranic și plăcere (hēdonē) în Banchetul și în Republica lui Platon
Autor: Maria Schwartz
Pagini: 21-33
Abstract:
Why does Plato call two kinds of love “Eros” which appear to be fundamentally
different from each other? The philosophical Eros in Symposium leads to the highest
vision of beauty and fosters a philosophical life. The tyrannical Eros in Republic IX is a destructive
force, depriving people of their humanity. A key concept to understand the difference
is pleasure (hêdonê). The contribution aims to show that Eros, the tyrannical ruler of
the soul is different from Eros, the helper in climbing the ladder of love, because Eros itself
is an ambivalent neutral force. It depends on its direction towards an object if it turns out to
be good or bad, harmful or helpful. To argue for this understanding a few objections of
Charles H. Kahn against Eros as a neutral power are ad-dressed.
Plotinus and St. Augustine: Love as Unifier, Love as Triunifier/Plotin și Sf. Augustin: Iubirea ca unificator, iubirea ca tri-unificator
Autor: Michael Wladika
Pagini: 34-46
Abstract:
Love is, on the top-level of thinking, relevant as unifier and as triunifier. Love
structures, directs, unifies. This is so on many levels, as is obvious at least from and since the
development of the ladder of love in Plato’s Symposium (210a–212a). Love in the end—beyond
all subordinate efforts at unification—unites with or at least points to our origin. It is the
inbuilt redditus-, anamnesis-, recollection-structure in being, the return of the lost son. So
love generally makes us transcend ourselves. It is the transcending movement of soul and
mind. Love also intrinsically differentiates. It can at least be seen in strong examples and actualisations
of love that the relata—lover and beloved—are not being lost and absorbed in a
sentimental love-sauce or soup, but intensified in their being. If this is so, it seems at least
thinkable that there is an instance of so perfect love that in it lover, love and beloved are three
and one. Love is then the inner life of the most perfect mind. The first of these two systematic
points—love as transcending—is in this paper developed with the pagan Platonic tradition,
culminating for our purposes in Plotinus’ theory of the nous eron (Ennead VI 7). The same
movement within Christian thinking is spelled out in looking at the early St. Augustine’s
thinking of love. This development can be seen as being typically there in the De quaestionibus
octoginta–tribus q. 35 and as being resumed and summed up in Confessiones XIII 9. The
second point—love as intrinsically differentiating—is here arrived at with aspects of De Trinitate
IX 1. It can perhaps be seen that ‘modifications’ in the thinking of love form a not inconsiderable
part of the turn from pagan to Christian Neoplatonism.
“This Worldly Religion of the Heart”: The Relevance of Hegel’s Concept of True Love for Today’s Social Theory and Philosophy of Religion/„Religia lumească a inimii“: relevanța conceptului de iubire autentică al lui Hegel pentru teoria socială și filosofia religiei de astăzi
Autor: Herta Nagl-Docekal
Pagini: 47-64
Abstract:
Seeking to elucidate the idea of “true love” that we have known all along, albeit
not in a clearly spelled out form, Hegel employs the core notion of his philosophy: “Spirit
[Geist]”, defined as a dialectical process. Part I of the paper highlights the reciprocal character
of his conception: Hegel portrays “true love” as a mutual involvement with “this person as
a whole” that cherishes and supports “this person’s singularity”. Part II explains that, by understanding
love in terms of “Spirit”, Hegel provides a well-argued foundation for assessing
deficiencies of modern life. The discussed issues include, firstly, the current trend toward
“atomistic” social conditions, secondly, the naturalistic reductionism in common clichés of
gender relations, thirdly, the objectifying presentation of women which increases in public
culture. Part III explains Hegel’s thesis that “true love” opens up a perspective that transcends
finiteness, as elaborated in his thoughts on the pain of mourning. Linking this thesis with
Kant’s conception of the “postulates” of future life and the existence of God, the paper sheds
light on Hegel’s reading of the Christian teaching that “God is love”.
Discourses on Love and Mysticism in American Pragmatism/Discursuri despre iubire și mistică în pragmatismul american
Autor: Ludwig Nagl
Pagini: 65-86
Abstract:
The paper has four parts. It starts with a brief glance at Charles Sanders
Peirce’s concepts of “agapism” and “evolutionary love” (and on some “agapism”-related
“theo-semiotic” traits in Peirce’s concept of “objective idealism”). Part two deals with William
James’s Lecture on “Mysticism” in his Varieties of Religious Experience, and looks at
Wittgenstein as a reader of James’s Varieties. Part three is dedicated to Josiah Royce’s re –
flections on charity and the “invisible church” (in: Source of Religious Insight, Part VII
“The unity of the Spirit and the invisible church”). Part four—a neopragmatic annex to the
previous glances at Classical pragmatists and pragmaticists—discusses Richard Rorty’s
(and Gianni Vattimo’s) remarks on 1 Corinthians, 13 (in The Future of Religion).
The Value of Love in Terms of Ontological, Epistemological and Social Harmony in George F. McLean’s Writings/Valoarea iubirii în termeni de armonie ontologică, epistemologică și socială în scrierile lui George F. McLean
Autor: Emanuel Sălăgean
Pagini: 87-108
Abstract:
The theme of “love” is very present in George F. McLean’s writings, but in
this paper, we will refer to three major directions. First, love has an ontological character
for him, by the nature of its source and divine manifestation, because “God is love” (1 John
4: 8). Secondly, love is the reason that makes the context favorable to the epistemological
experience, at the same time being a tool that facilitates knowledge. And thirdly, love is the
ingredient without the social harmony cannot be achieved. McLean is interested in these issues
because he is concerned with some functional applications that can make significant
contributions to self-knowledge and self-affirmation, as well as to establishing effective relationships
between people from different cultures or religions.
From Mysticism to Psychoanalysis: Julia Kristeva’s Love for Teresa of Avila/De la mistică la psihanaliză: iubirea Juliei Kristeva față de Tereza de Ávila
Autor: Gertrude Postl
Pagini: 109-126
Abstract:
The present paper shall focus on one specific aspect of Kristeva’s interest in
love and religion, namely on her account of Christian mysticism. The first part will investigate
Kristeva’s understanding of love with reference to Teresa’s mystical experience as
well as the psychoanalytic process. The second part—focusing more explicitly on issues of
language and writing—will locate Kristeva’s reading of Teresa within the broader context
of her revolt project by claiming that Teresa may serve as an example for Kristeva’s
concept of “intimate revolt,” thus attributing to her life and writing a political dimension
and turning love into an aspect of revolt.
Love and Initiatory Search in the Novel The Forbidden Forest by Mircea Eliade/Iubire și căutare inițiatică în romanul Noaptea de Sânziene al lui Mircea Eliade
Autor: Lorena Valeria Stuparu
Pagini: 127-146
Abstract:
The purpose of the research of initiation is, from Eliade perspective, the
knowledge of man, because the initiation is an act that engages not only the religious life of
the individual, but it engages his total life (Aspects du mythe 1963). In other words, the initiatory
component of the religious experience is related both to the miracle of life, which
can be represented as a continuous initiation, and to the gnosiological course of the individual.
Although for the most part, modern people have lost their sense of religiously life,
so initiation has almost disappeared from the modern world, Eliade remarked that beyond
the traditional formulas of initiation experiences, and even in the absence of “ecstatic journeys”, spiritual renewal and “clairvoyance” can be achieved when man falls in love, when
life itself is understood as a continual trial. It is a (contemplative) path opened by the work
of Mircea Eliade who in the Diary interprets his own life as a “labyrinthine initiation”. In
the novel The Forbidden Forest (Noaptea de Sânziene), the labyrinthine initiation is impelled
by the “nostalgia of paradise” related to the deep impulses of man, among which that
of love is paramount, according to the image and likeness of the Creator. According to the
evangelical hermeneutics of love, this is the dynamic expression of man’s divine image and
likeness and at the same time of his power to overcome death, to have access to being,
knowledge and virtue, to onto-gnoseological mystery. This text aims to show that beyond
the power to resist the evils of the world, love can give the lover “foresight” and stimulates
the imagination in a creative sense, as happens in the novel The Forbidden Forest (Noaptea
de Sânziene) by Mircea Eliade.
Love for Nature in the Encyclical Letter Laudato Si’/Iubirea față de natură în Scrisoarea enciclică Laudato Si’
Autor: Tarciziu-Hristofor Șerban
Pagini: 147-162
Abstract:
In this article I’m concerned to go deeper into the notion of love, which cannot
remain a purely theological, philosophical, or mystical notion. It is meant to be a reflex
attitude, a way of relating between fellow human beings but also between man and the rest
of the creatures. Its lack not only leads to indifference and alienation, but to catastrophic
consequences both for the relationships between people and for those between man and
nature. For example, the Holy Father, Pope Francis, offers us, in his Encyclical Letter
Laudato Si’, an illustration of these consequences and, at the same time, an urge to recover
the said attitude. In the following pages I try to focus my attention on this pontifical document
emphasizing the need for a better relationship between man and nature.
Noutăți editoriale/Book Presentations
Recenzii de: Mihaela Voicu
Pagini: 163-168
Cronică
Autor: Iulia Cojocariu
Pagini: 169-170
Events
Autor: Iulia Cojocariu
Pagini: 171-172