Los 'apéndices' de Basílides (Un capítulo de filosofía gnóstica): I
Behind the term "appendixes" (προσαρτήματα), characteristic of Basilides and his son Isidore, lies a particular Gnostic mystery which has not yet been studied. Clement of Alexandria (Strom. II) has one dense and obscure page that takes up the concept of "appendixes", but the diff...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | Spanish |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Ed. Pontificia Univ. Gregoriana
1976
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| In: |
Gregorianum
Year: 1976, Volume: 57, Issue: 1, Pages: 81-107 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | Behind the term "appendixes" (προσαρτήματα), characteristic of Basilides and his son Isidore, lies a particular Gnostic mystery which has not yet been studied. Clement of Alexandria (Strom. II) has one dense and obscure page that takes up the concept of "appendixes", but the difficulties of the text have prevented analysis in the light of the then current philosophy and theology. Scholars have taken refuge in generalities, pointing out a few more or less approximate parallels to the idea of "appendixes". Does a fresh look at Clement's text promise any positive results? Apart from some tenaciously opaque sections, Clement's treatment lends itself to systematic analysis, to the precise formulation of some new problems, and to certain avenues of interpretation within the perspective of second century ideological currents. The present article begins with a commentary on the introductory lines of the Stromateus, on the passions. There follows an annotated translation of the page in question, on the προσαρτήματα, with a study of the vocabulary and the main themes. The beginnings of the "appendixes" go back to an "initial upheaval," the idea of which is found as a general substratum of many thought systems of a Platonic type. But it is not until this concept of an initial uproar is seen in the light of the Valentinian and Ophitic gnoses that one can understand the "appendixes" in terms of a concrete πάϑος of universal transcendence (the pathos of Prunicos, or Achmot). The "appendixes" have a more immediate origin in the psychology of the individual; and it is here that the ideas about an "added soul" which Clement attributes to Isidore, Basilides' son and disciple, take on great importance. This is the most difficult point, apart from the stoically slanted concepts attributed to Basilides. The study on the duality of souls and the doctrine of the Pythagorean Numenius both help to uncover the sources of Isidore's thought. Once a few slight obstacles regarding the "appendixes" and the "added soul" are overcome, the psychology of Basilides is easily situated in the line of Numenius. The προσαρτήματα are physical adhesions in the rational psyche produced by evil spirits which, from the added (or irrational) soul act on a weak soul in favor of the passions. Their origin is not astral, nor necessary. With the compliance of the rational soul which gives them the opportunity, evil spirits encrust the "bad", irrational psyche with their very substance — which takes the form of a substantive "appendix" — and in this way install themselves inside the psyche. The "appendixes" should not be confused with the spirits of evil, nor with the passions of the "added," irrational soul. Rather, they are physically firm elements that are nourished with the help of the irrational passions by the evil spirits in the substance of the rational psyche, when the psyche is weak and surrenders itself — not without guilt — to the assaults of those spirits. There remain several points that need to be considered, including the freedom of the individual, his relation to the divine man, and analogies with other Gnostic systems. These will be taken up in a II part. |
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| Contains: | Enthalten in: Gregorianum
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