Oblique Politics and Esotericism in Michael Psellos

• Authors: Georges Arabatzis

Title variants

EN

Oblique Politics and Esotericism in Michael Psellos

• Languages of publication: FR

Abstracts

FR

The paper examines the relation of esotericism and oblique politics in the Byzantine philosopher Michael Psellos (11th century) on the basis of Eva De Vries’ study of the letters that Psellos addressed to the statesman Leo Paraspondylos. Traditionally, the name of Psellos signifies a revival of Neoplatonism in medieval Constantinople according to researchers like Chr. Zervos in the beginning of 20th century. Contemporary researchers such as Anthony Kaldellis and Stratis Papaioannou point to a more organic than speculative theorization in Psellos’ work while another contemporary scholar, Frederick Lauritzen, undertakes a synthesis of the two approaches. In any case, as this paper supports, it would be inadequate to consider the relation of esotericism to politics without referring to the evolution of the moral standards considered in a contextualized manner.

EN

The paper examines the relation of esotericism and oblique politics in the Byzantine philosopher Michael Psellos (11th century) on the basis of Eva De Vries’ study of the letters that Psellos addressed to the states­man Leo Paraspondylos. Traditionally, the name of Psellos signifies a revival of Neoplatonism in medieval Constantinople according to researchers like Chr. Zervos in the beginning of 20th century. Contemporary researchers such as Anthony Kaldellis and Stratis Papaioannou point to a more organic than speculative theorization in Psellos’ work while another contemporary scholar, Frederick Lauritzen, undertakes a synthesis of the two approaches. In any case, as this paper supports, it would be inadequate to consider the relation of esotericism to politics without referring to the evolution of the moral standards considered in a contextualized manner.

Keywords

EN

Byzantine Philosophy; Michael Psellos; Esotericism; Political Philosophy; Neoplatonism; Morality

• Publisher: Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu
• Journal: Peitho. Examina Antiqua
• Year: 2016
• Volume: 7
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 249-264

Dates

published

2016-03-17

Contributors

author

Georges Arabatzis

References

• Alexander, P.J., 1958, The Patriarch Nicephorus of Constantinople: Ecclesiastical and Image Worship in the Byzantine Empire, Oxford.
• Arabatzis, G., 2009, «La noblesse des astres dans la philosophie byzantine», in: G. Arabatzis (ed.), Studies on Supernaturalism, Berlin, pp. 137–156.
• Arabatzis, G., 2014, “Nicephoros Blemmydes’s Imperial Statue: Aristotelian Politics as Kingship Morality in Byzantium”, Mediaevistik 27, pp. 99–118.
• De Vries-Van der Velden, E., 1999, “Les amitiés dangereuses: Psellos et Léon Paraspondylos”, Byzantinoslavica 60, pp. 315–350.
• Kaldellis, A., 1999, The Argument of Psellos’ “Chronographia”, Leiden.
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• O’Meara, D., 2012, “Political philosophy in Michael Psellos: the “Chronographia” read in relation to his philosophical work”, in K. Ierodiakonou, B. Bydén (eds.), The Many Faces of Byzantine Philosophy, Athens, pp. 53–171.
• Papaioannou, S., 2013, Michael Psellos: Rhetoric and Authorship in Byzantium, Cambridge.
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• Szlezák, T.A., 1985, Platon und die Schriftlichkeit der Philosophie, Berlin.
• Weber, M., 2004, The Vocation Lectures. “Science as a Vocation” – “Politics as a Vocation”, transl. R. Livingstone, Indianapolis.
• Zervos, Chr., 1920, Michel Psellos. Un philosophe néoplatonicien du XIe siècle, Paris.

Identifiers

DOI

10.14746/pea.2016.1.13