Natural Law and Byzantine Philosophy (original) (raw)

2023, Traditions of Natural Law in Medieval Philosophy Studies in Philosophy and the History of Philosophy

This chapter aims to give a panoramic view of the reflection on natural law within Byzantine philosophy until the introduction of Thomas Aquinas's works into Byzantium, beginning in 1354. To this end, some preliminary clarifications are in order. According to John Damascene (d. c. 753), "a descriptive definition" is constituted by its "combination of essentials and non-essentials."1 As Michele Trizio has shown, whether it is possible to provide a descriptive definition of Byzantine philosophy is a highly controverted issue.2 For this reason, I take Byzantine philosophy in the broadest sense and view each of the six definitions, conveniently compiled by Damascene, as being equally applicable: [i.] Philosophy is knowledge of things which are in so far as they are, that is, a knowledge of the nature of things which have being. [ii.] And again, philosophy is knowledge of both divine and human things, that is to say, of things both visible and invisible. [iii.] Philosophy, again, is a study of death, whether this be voluntary or natural [.. .] [iv.] Still again, philosophy is the making of one's self like God [.. .] [v.] Philosophy is the art of arts and the science of sciences. This is because philosophy is the principle of every art, since through it every art and science has been invented.