The Via Negativa and the Aura of Words
Abstract
The negative capacity is essential to creative thinking; we find it in the transcendentalism of the Judaeo-Christian tradition, though the Neoplatonist explanation of unknowing goes far further than simply pointing to the beyond; the idea of aura provides some understanding of how a word retains its influence even when negated; words or names are crucial in the move upwards in the mystical journey, and in the Neoplatonist and Christian tradition names or words are said to be fundamental, despite the via negativa; the linguistic ontology of Platonism underpins the existence of the names: but we do not have to believe in the ontic status of names for their aura to operate as we meditate over them.
Keywords:
aura, via negativa, unknowing (agnosia), privation, abstraction, names (onomata), Plotinus, Plato, Proclus, Damascius, Gregory of Nyssa, Pseudo-DionysiusReferences
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Bond University
Raoul Mortley holds a BA Hons from the University of Sydney, an MA from Monash University, a D 3rd Cycle and a D Litt from the University of Strasbourg. His present position is Adjunct Professor at Bond University. He writes in the area of Patristic philosophy and general philosophy. His main work has been focussed on the synthesis of Greek philosophy and Christianity, and the rich themes in the history of western culture deriving from this.
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