Torstein Theodor Tollefsen: WS 'Maximian Holomerism: Maximus the Confessor's Philosophy of Whole and Part'

Maximus’ metaphysics has two basic features, viz. a doctrine of logoi  that are the divine principles for the cosmic order of essences, and a doctrine of whole and part arrangements of the created world. Parts subsist in the wholes and the wholes in the parts, and in this way the whole system of particulars, species, and genera is interconnected with a view to the universal conversion in Christ of all being to God. This doctrine of whole and part arrangements has almost never been investigated before but still it is an obvious and important feature of Maximus’ ‘system’.

This paper is intended for the workshop arranged by Sotiris Mitralexis.