Individuality in Late Antiquity

Johannes Zachhuber has published extensively on various aspects of late antiquity, in particular the thought of Gregory of Nyssa, and co-edited numerous collections. Publications include: Human Nature in Gregory of Nyssa. Philosophical Background and Theological Significance (Leiden: Brill, 1999), and Gregory of Nyssa, Contra Eunomium: An English Version with Supporting Studies. Proceedings of the 10th International Colloquium on Gregory of Nyssa, (Leiden: Brill, 2007) (edited with L. Karfiková, S. Douglass). Alexis Torrance specializes in late antique monasticism and asceticism in the Eastern Mediterranean. His publications have appeared in Journal of Early Christian Studies, Vigiliae Christianae, Studies in Church History, and The Heythrop Journal.

’The problem of the individual is central to our notion of modernity. These thoughtful and deeply learned essays take us back to a thought world where the notion of the individual had begun to emerge. It did so in what to us are deeply unfamiliar circumstances - in the wrangles of Christian theologians on the nature of the Trinity, the personhood of Christ, and the resurrection of the body; in the lucubrations of Platonic philosophers on the relation of body and soul; and in the harsh testing bed of the relations between individual and community provided by the monastery. This exploration of the roots of individuality provides us with a challenging viewing point from which to reconsider the modern notion of the self.’ Peter Brown, Princeton University, USA ’This study of individuality in late antiquity provides highly original new insights. It is distinctive in addressing pagan and Christian conceptions equally, and impressive in the range of issues it illuminates.’ Richard Sorabji, Oxford University, UK ’This valuable book forms part of a growing emphasis on the history of individuality and the self in late antiquity. It provides a corrective to Foucault’s Care of the Self, and shows that the western narrative that takes Augustine as its starting point is not the only game in town. Developing the discussion in Aristotle’s Categories, late antique Neoplatonists and Christians alike debated the philosophical basis of individuality. In the fourth century, Trinitarian theology presented a special challenge, and other aspects of the problem came to the fore with the growing ascetic theory of the self and the difficulties surrounding the Christian doctrine of bodily resurrection. The editors have drawn on the best scholarship in philosophy, theology, and the history of Christian thought to show the centrality of these issues and the intensity of the discussion. Anyone interested in the roots of modern theories of the individual will find this book crucial

• Contents: Preface; Introduction, Johannes Zachhuber and Alexis Torrance; Individuality in some Gnostic authors, with a few remarks on the interpretation of Ptolemy’s Epistula ad Floram, Christoph Markschies; Astrology and freedom: the case of Firmicus Maternus, Mark Edwards; Plotinus on sensible particulars and individual essences, Riccardo Chiaradonna; Logico-grammatical reflections about individuality in late antiquity, Julie Brumberg-Chaumont; Individuality and the theological debate about ’hypostasis’, Johannes Zachhuber; Individuality and identity-formation in late antique monasticism, Alexis Torrance; Individuality and the Resurrection in some late antique texts, Yannis Papadogiannakis; John Philoponus on individuality and particularity, Christophe Erismann; The religious constitution of individuality: one motif of Augustine’s Confessions in modern intellectual history and theology, Wilhem Gräb; Bibliography; Index.