Eastern Christian approaches to philosophy

With few exceptions, the field of Eastern Christian studies has primarily been concerned with historical-critical analysis, hermeneutics, and sociology. For the most part it has not attempted to bring Eastern Christian philosophy into serious engagement with contemporary thought. This volume seeks to redress the matter by bringing the Eastern Christian tradition into a meaningful dialogue with contemporary philosophy. It boasts a diverse group of scholarsspecialists in ancient philosophy, analytic philosophy, and continental philosophywho engage with a wide range of pressing issues. Among other things, it addresses such topics as contemporary atheism, the metaphysics of action, religious epistemology, the philosophy of language, bioethics, the philosophy of race, and human rights. In so doing, it aims to introduce contemporary readers to unique perspectives and novel arguments often overlooked by mainstream anglophone philosophy.

Includes index.

Intro -- Acknowledgements -- Contents -- Notes on Contributors -- Chapter 1: Introduction -- The Concept of 'Eastern Christianity' -- The Structure of the Book -- Reference -- Part I: Metaphilosophy -- Chapter 2: St Ephrem and the Pursuit of Wisdom -- Ephrem and Late Antique Greek Philosophy: Reorienting the Question -- Previous Approaches: Ephrem's Way of Thinking -- Ephrem, Hadot, and Julian the Apostate -- The Pursuit of Wisdom as an Ephremian Ideal -- Wisdom the Purpose of Human Existence -- Reading the Book of Nature and Confronting Idolatry -- Asceticism and the Pursuit of Wisdom

Sensation, Body, Soul, and Media in Ephrem's Ideal -- Ephrem on Soul, Body, and Sensation -- McLuhan on Media -- Two McLuhanesque Themes and Ephremian Echoes -- The Primacy of the Percept over Concept in Religious Experience -- Wisdom and the Artist -- Conclusion -- References -- Chapter 3: The Emergence of the Scholastic Attitude Towards Philosophy in Greek Patristic Thought -- References -- Part II: Philosophical Theology and Metaphysics -- Chapter 4: What We Can and Cannot Say: An Apophatic Response to Atheism -- Contemporary Arguments for the Nonexistence of God

Categorising Contemporary Argum…