The “Archaeology” of Gnosis: On the Inner Life of the Gnostic First Principle

with Zlatko Plese

Vidéo disponible dans le lien : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eW3hwMW64Q0&t=8s

The talk examines various Gnostic responses to one of the central issues of metaphysical monism: the emergence of reality from a self-contained unitary first principle. In addition to the imagery of plenitude, overflow, and self-extension, Gnostic traditions consistently deploy the analogy with human cognitive processes to account for the passage from initial unity to plurality: they describe the unfathomable first principle as a self-searching absolute which, in the process of its gradual self-actualization, experiences the same series of changing dispositions and affections as the mind of the developing human. Contrary to Plotinus’ assertion that “when speaking of the One, we actually speak of our own experiences” (Enn. VI.9 [9] 49-54), Gnostic traditions propose exactly the opposite: when speaking of ourselves and our dispositions and experiences, we actually speak of the One.

Conférence donnée dans le cadre du Projet « Les Platonismes de l’Antiquité Tardive » et le cycle de conférences 2022-2023 « Interactions Philosophies et Religieuses : Les Principes ».

Projet pluriannuel de recherches dirigé par Luciana Gabriela Soares Santoprete (CNRS – LEM), Anna Van den Kerchove (IPT), George Karamanolis (Université de Vienne), Éric Crégheur (Université Laval) et Dylan Burns (Université d’Amsterdam).

For those who are not yet in our mailing list, to receive the zoom link of the conferences, please : 

  1. Send a message to sympa@services.cnrs.fr from the address you want to subscribe to the list;
  2. In the subject line of your message, type in: subscribe lesplatonismes 
  3. Leave the message body blank. You will receive a confirmation e-mail.