Following the studies of Pierre Hadot, we know that the main approach to philosophy in Late Antiquity takes the form of an exegesis of authoritative texts, not without altering their primary aim. As soon as the texts come to be perceived as the products of a divine revelation, the hermeneutics applied to them are indistinguishable from a theology. Reading and commenting on the revelatory texts imply an almost religious adherence to their doctrinal content, which is close to being understood as articles of belief. These two complementary aspects were accentuated in a complex relationship of rivalry with Christianity.
The gradual transition from a philosophical to a religious conception of the world in Late Antiquity, from the first to the sixth century, has not been sufficiently analysed. This book aims to help fill this gap. It brings together the perspectives of various specialists – historians of ancient philosophy, religions in the Graeco-Roman world, and patristics – around three specific themes: the place of theological revelations within the philosophical discourse in Late Antiquity, the exegetical approach as a source of philosophical and theological dogmas, and the role of polemics in the establishment of a new relationship between beliefs and philosophy.
EAA 208: Paris, Institut d’études augustiniennes, mars 2020
ISBN: 978-2-85121-308-2
330 p., 165 x 250 mm
43€ TTC
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