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“To be circumscribed belongs to the essence of man”. Theodore of Stoudios on Individuality, Circumscription and Corporeality

    Christophe Erismann

Jahrbuch der Österreichischen Byzantinistik 68, pp. 225-238, 2019/09/17

doi: 10.1553/joeb68s225

doi: 10.1553/joeb68s225

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doi:10.1553/joeb68s225



doi:10.1553/joeb68s225

Abstract

The concept of “circumscription” (περιγραφή) plays a crucial role in the argument in favour of images developed by Theodore the Stoudite in his Antirrhetici. Being circumscribed is the condition of the possibility of depiction, and more generally a characteristic of any being in the sensible world. This concept is traditional, but Theodore redefines anew its meaning thanks to several unprecedented statements about the kind of entities involved in the process of circumscription. For him, it is neither essences nor bodies which are circumscribed but hypostases. Theodore reaches this conclusion by drawing on Aristotelian logic. The resulting understanding of circumscription contributes to ensuring the coherence of his theory of icons.