Individuality in Late Antiquity

205 Pages·2014·1.46 MB·English

by  Alexis Torrance

IndIvIdualIty In late antIquIty
late antiquity is increasingly recognised as a period of important cultural
transformation. One of its crucial aspects is the emergence of a new awareness
of human individuality. In this book an interdisciplinary and international group
of scholars documents and analyses this development. the authors assess the
influence of seminal thinkers, including the Gnostics, Plotinus, and Augustine, but
also of cultural and religious practices such as astrology and monasticism, as well
as, more generally, the role played by intellectual disciplines such as grammar
and Christian theology. Broad in both theme and scope, the volume serves as a
comprehensive introduction to late antique understandings of human individuality.
ASHGATE STUDIES IN PHILOSOPHY & THEOLOGY
In late antIquIty
Series editors
Dr Mark Edwards, Oxford University, UK
Professor Lewis Ayers, University of Durham, UK
The Ashgate Studies in Philosophy & Theology in Late Antiquity series focuses
on major theologians, not as representatives of a ‘tradition’, whether Christian
or classical, but as individuals immersed in the intellectual culture of their day.
Each book concentrates on the arguments, not merely the opinions, of a single
Christian writer or group of writers from the period ad 100–600 and compares
and contrasts these arguments with those of pagan contemporaries who addressed
similar questions. By study of the political, cultural and social milieu, contributors
to the series show what external factors led to the convergence or divergence
of Christianity and pagan thought in particular localities or periods. Pagan and
Christian teachings are set out in a clear and systematic form making it possible to
bring to light the true originality of the author’s thought and to estimate the value
of his work for modern times. This high profile research series offers an important
contribution to areas of contemporary research in the patristic period, as well as
providing new links into later periods, particularly the medieval and reformation.
Other titles published in this series:
Image, Word and God in the Early Christian Centuries
Mark edwards
Clothed in the Body
Asceticism, the Body and the Spiritual in the Late Antique Era
Hannah Hunt
The Spirit of Augustine’s Early Theology
Contextualizing Augustine’s Pneumatology
Chad Tyler Gerber
Evagrius and Gregory
Mind, Soul and Body in the 4th Century
Kevin Corrigan
Individuality in late antiquity
Edited by
alexIS tOrranCe
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
and
JOHanneS zaCHHuber
Trinity College, University of Oxford, UK
© Alexis Torrance and Johannes Zachhuber 2014
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher.
Alexis Torrance and Johannes Zachhuber have asserted their right under the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the editors of this work.
Published by
Ashgate Publishing Limited Ashgate Publishing Company
Wey Court east 110 Cherry Street
union road Suite 3-1
Farnham Burlington, VT 05401-3818
Surrey, GU9 7PT USA
england
www.ashgate.com
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
a catalogue record for this book is available from the british library
The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:
Individuality in late antiquity / edited by Alexis Torrance and Johannes Zachhuber.
pages cm. – (Ashgate studies in philosophy & theology in late antiquity)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4094-4056-7 (hardcover) – ISBN 978-1-4094-4057-4 (ebook) – ISBN
978-1-4724-0052-9 (epub) 1. Individuality. 2. Individualism I. Torrance, Alexis, 1985-
editor of compilation.
B824.I543 2014
126.09--dc23
ISBN 9781409440567 (hbk)
ISBN 9781409440574 (ebk – PDF)
ISBN 9781472400529 (ebk – ePUB)
V
Contents
List of Contributors vii
Preface ix
Introduction 1
Johannes Zachhuber and Alexis Torrance
1 Individuality in Some Gnostic Authors, with a Few Remarks
on the Interpretation of Ptolemy’s Epistula ad Floram 11
Christoph Markschies
2 Astrology and Freedom: The Case of Firmicus Maternus 29
Mark Edwards
3 Plotinus on Sensible Particulars and Individual Essences 47
Riccardo Chiaradonna
4 Logico-grammatical Reflections about Individuality in
Late Antiquity 63
Julie Brumberg-Chaumont
5 Individuality and the Theological Debate about ‘Hypostasis’ 91
Johannes Zachhuber
6 Individuality and Identity-formation in Late Antique Monasticism 111
Alexis Torrance
7 Individuality and the Resurrection in Some Late Antique Texts 129
Yannis Papadogiannakis
8 John Philoponus on Individuality and Particularity 143
Christophe Erismann
9 The Religious Constitution of Individuality: One Motif of Augustine’s
Confessions in Modern Intellectual History and Theology 161
Wilhelm Gräb
vi Individuality in Late Antiquity
Bibliography 173
Index 189
List of Contributors
Julie Brumberg-Chaumont is Researcher in the Laboratory for the Study of
Monotheistic Religions (LEM) at the CNRS, University of Paris, France.
Riccardo Chiaradonna is Associate Professor of the History of Ancient
Philosophy at the University of Roma Tre in Rome, Italy.
Mark Edwards is University Lecturer in Patristics at the University of Oxford,
and Tutor in Theology at Christ Church, Oxford, UK.
Christophe Erismann is Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) Professor of
Philosphy at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland.
Wilhelm Gräb is the Professor of Practical Theology and Director of the Institute
of Sociology and Religion at Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany and
Extraordinary Professor at the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa.
Christoph Markschies is Professor and Chair of Ancient Christianity at Humboldt
University in Berlin, Germany.
Yannis Papadogiannakis is Lecturer in Patristics at the Center for Hellenic Studies
and Department of Theology and Religious Studies, King’s College London, UK.
Alexis Torrance is Postdoctoral Fellow in Theology at the Aristotle University of
Thessaloniki, Greece and Visiting Scholar in Theology at the University of Notre
Dame, USA.
Johannes Zachhuber is Reader in Theology at the University of Oxford, UK and
a Fellow and Tutor at Trinity College, Oxford, UK.
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Preface
Individuality without a doubt has been a central problem of modernity and continues
to be controversial today. What are the historical and the intellectual roots of this
predicament? The contributors to the present volume seek to explore dimensions
of late ancient reflection about individuality as a background to more recent
developments. They are not the first to have done so: the last centuries of the Greek
and Roman civilisation have for a while now been recognised as a major turning point
in Western intellectual, cultural and religious history, a time during which century-
old traditions came to an end and new ideas were born and took shape that have ever
since dominated Western culture. Individuality has frequently been considered as one
of those, and distinguished students of this topic have, therefore, often chosen late
antiquity as the historical starting point of their enquiries.
The editors hope that their book takes this discussion forward primarily on
account of its interdisciplinary character. Individual chapters shed light on a wide
variety of late ancient contexts in which problems of individuality arose and were
discussed, from astrology and asceticism to grammar, Platonic philosophy and
Christian theology. Contributors are trained in history, philosophy or theology; they
therefore bring to their work differently schooled approaches to the texts that were
written, and the events that took place, during this period.
Their different disciplinary backgrounds with sometimes varying methodological
and ideological premises notwithstanding, the contributors share a commitment
to intellectual history and the principle that contemporary ideas can and should be
understood in the light of their transformations over the centuries. The editors hope that
this book provides practical evidence for the fruitfulness of these principles as creating
a bond and a commonality of purpose between an interdisciplinary group of scholars.
The chapters of this book were first presented as papers at a conference that took
place in September 2010 at Trinity College, Oxford. This conference was part of a
larger project, Individuality in Context, and the editors would like to thank its Principal
Investigator, Prof. Wilhelm Gräb, for his support of their plans and ideas. They would
also like to acknowledge the generosity of the Metanexus Institute, without whose
funding the event could not have happened. The Oxford Centre of Late Antiquity
and, in particular, Mr Bryan Ward-Perkins kindly provided institutional and financial
support. The collaboration with Ashgate was exemplary. The editors would wish
to thank especially Sarah Lloyd for her patient support; they also benefited from
detailed comments by the publisher’s anonymous readers.
Oxford/Thessaloniki, February 2014
Johannes Zachhuber and Alexis Torrance