title: How Evil Happens to Be: Dionysius the Pseudo-Areopagite on the Origin of Evil
creator: Rohstock, Max
subject: ddc-100
subject: 100 Philosophy
subject: ddc-230
subject: 230 Christian theology
subject: ddc-480
subject: 480 Hellenic languages Classical Greek
subject: ddc-880
subject: 880 Hellenic literatures Classical Greek
description: In monistic metaphysics like that of Dionysius, in which the absolute One/Good is conceived as the sole principle, “evil” (κακόν/kakon) does not seem to fit in. Hence, there have been numerous attempts to locate evil within the Dionysian ontology. To research it is obvious that evil cannot be an ontological category at all. Rather, it is a purely ethical concept that points to the existential philosophical orientation of Dionysian thought. Dionysius emphasizes our own responsibility: we as human beings are the reason for the realization of evil. But how does the Good as the sole principle fit into this scheme? If the Good is nothing other than omnipotence, how can the genesis of evil be explained? In this paper, I wish to demonstrate that Dionysius answers these questions through a concept adapted from Proclus: the concept of πρόνοια.
publisher: Universitätsbibliothek
date: 2024
type: Article
type: info:eu-repo/semantics/article
type: NonPeerReviewed
format: application/pdf
identifier: https://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/volltextserver/35519/7/How_Evil_Happens_to_Be_Rohstock.pdf
identifier: DOI:10.11588/heidok.00035519
identifier: urn:nbn:de:bsz:16-heidok-355199
identifier:   Rohstock, Max  (2024) How Evil Happens to Be: Dionysius the Pseudo-Areopagite on the Origin of Evil.    pp. 1-16.      
relation: https://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/volltextserver/35519/
rights: info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights: http://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/volltextserver/help/license_urhg.html
language: eng