In his commentary on the Platonic dialogue Philebus, the Neoplatonic philosopher Damascius investigates the ontological question of the relation between the One as the highest principle and the many sensible beings produced through it. Three points are emphasized: 1. Damascius attempts to situate movement in the metaphysical realm and avoid a static metaphysical model by propounding a connection between sensible beings and their productive archetype through what he conceives as metaphysical amplification. 2. His explication of the relation between the physical and the metaphysical indicates that he is not concerned with just a general description, but instead intends to specify the forms of their mutual communication. To a certain degree, physical beings are presented as developments of metaphysical states in terms of the relation of "appearance" to "being," in the sense that the appearance teleologically portrays that which is ontologically complete. 3. Because Damascius sets logic in analytic relation to ontology and defines the conditions of this coordination, it gains no independent status, even as its propriety becomes explicit, for he shows its principal determination by ontology. Hence, Damascius remains within the framework of a consistent ontological realism.

ΙntroductionThe extensive commentary -basically the systematic treatise -of the Neoplatonist philosopher Proclus (412-485) In Platonis Timaeum (Εἰς τὸν Τίμαιον Πλάτωνος) is perhaps the supreme attempt at the systematic formulation of ancient Greek cosmology. The development of the treatise would be characterized as dramatic, as its historic material is ten centuries old. In this treatise, as a whole, the method the philosopher implements and the deductions to which he is led correspond to the strict laws of a logically structured scientific composition proceeding in terms of geometrical theorems by means of an internal explanation to a large extent. Ac cording to Proclus' research, the theoretical branch of cosmology should describe and explain the world of tangible experience in every detail mainly by means of the use of the analytical method. On the other hand, it should seek to identify the productive causes and archetypal powers that allowed this world to acquire existence and the laws according to which it functions. Here, too, Proclus pro ceeds to the formulation of synthetic judgments and of interpretative hypothe ses or even proposals. He considers that the above metaphysical realities always feed with energy the natural world but without any alteration concerning their ontological state. They are transcendent and ontologically superior to the world in the context of the principle of the Platonic tradition where the metaphysical world has and permanently preserves its superiority to the natural. This position reaches its extreme limits in Neoplatonism, since the metaphysical world receives an inexhaustible number of radical superlative predications. Thus, the world of the divine is characterized in perpetuity as an emanating reality. Realism is evi dent here with clear metaphysical foundations. Nevertheless, Proclus claims that both worlds present fixed analogies between them, despite the fact that their on tological differences are taken for granted. Concerning this theoretical parameter he leads the Platonic tradition to the culmination of its consequences. Whatever

No abstract

485, 2: "Jah|kou d³ t/r cm~seyr !podiestakl]ma jat± s³ (Baqka\l) ja· pq¹r vemajisl¹m l|mom t0 vikosov_ô pqoset]hgjam 1je ?." See also 484, 11; 485, 2. In the Christian tradition as divine Logia are considered the divinely inspired texts, namely those that reveal the Logos of God to men. Cf R. Roques, Lunivers dionysien. Paris 2 1983, 209 -225. Also on this issue, J. Lison makes the following distinction: "À lencontre de Barlaam, lHØsychaste sØpare donc radicalement la connaissance spirituelle de celle qui est accessible a tout Þtre rationnel. La premire Byzantinische Zeitschrift Bd. 101/1, 2008: I. Abteilung 2 Brought to you by | Radboud University Nijmegen Authenticated Download Date | 5/27/15 9:55 AM A. Antonopoulos/Ch. Terezis, Aspects on the relation between faith and knowledge … 3 Brought to you by | Radboud University Nijmegen Authenticated Download Date | 5/27/15 9:55 AM !mapepe_sleha j|slour, oqw blo_our l|mom !kk± ja· diav|qour, He`pqoacace?m t_m eqweqest\tym cim~sjolem tµm !peiqod}malom d}malim."