Henology or Ontology?

Beierwaltes Seminar V

The One, the principle of all being and thought and as such, famously, “beyond” both “in rank and power”, cannot be the object of discursive thought and hence defies all attempt at conceptual definition. However, the soul can become one with it in rare insights described with great imaginative vigour in Plato and Plotinus as well as their many pagan and Christian heirs in antiquity, the Medieval period and the early modern and modern age. Starting with the account provided in Beierwaltes’ classic Denken des Einen of 1985, the fifth seminar will trace the history of Platonic mysticism from its beginning to the modern day.

The Beierwaltes Seminars on Christian Platonism, hosted by the Cambridge Centre twice a year, revolve around key concepts of Platonism and their transformation in Christian philosophy from the Alexandrians Clement and Origen to the present day. After reading and discussing excerpts from the work of the eminent German scholar Werner Beierwaltes (translated into English for the first time), both PhD students and postdocs give papers on their current research on Origen and Christian Platonism. Everyone interested in and working on Platonism is cordially invited to take part.