Monk Diodor (Larionov). John Demetracopoulos and his contribution to the studies of “Byzantine Palamism”. A foreword to publication of Russian translation of the article “Is Gregory Palamas an existentialist? The restoration of the true meaning of his comment on Exodus 3,14 “Ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ὤν””. Vol. 4. No. 1. 2019

Publication Details

Abstract

Giannis Demetracopoulos (born 1968) is a modern Greek historian of philosophy, an author of series of researches on Byzantine and Modern Greek philosophy. He is a head of the international project “Thomas de Aquino Byzantinus”, a member of the International society for Medieval philosophy studies in the section of Byzantine philosophy. The present article is a foreword to the translation of his work “Is Gregory Palamas an existentialist? The restoration of the true meaning of his comment on Exodus 3:14 “Ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ὤν””, which was published in 1996 in Athens by “Παρουσία” editorial as a separate monograph. The article explains the reasons for actuality of this translation into Russian and provides information on life and studies of the author. The main part of the foreword is an analytic review of further writings by J. Demetracopoulos on the problems of “Byzantine Palamism”, written by him in 1996-2011. The methodology, which the scholar applies in the studies of Palamism, is discussed in the paper, as well as the conceptual contribution he brought into examination and interpretation of heritage both of Gregory Palamas himself and subsequent Byzantine and Modern Greek authors having participated in the post-Palamite discussions. A detailed description is given of the sources of philosophical and theological views of Gregory Palamas, which have been introduced into scholarly circulation by J. Demetracopoulos, aiding to clarification of the evolution of the Byzantine saint’s views and to better understanding his position in discussions with his opponents. Serious attention is paid to Demetracopoulos’ works on the relation of Gregory Palamas to the legacy of St. Augustine and his reception of the philosophical and theological views of the latter. Additionally, in the article a brief criticism of some Demetracopoulos’ statements on the issue of “transformation of Palamism” in the late Byzantium is contained.

Keywords

Byzantine philosophy, palamism, Gregory Palamas, Avgustine, existentialism.

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© Monk Diodor (Larionov), 2019