Bild

John the Grammarian and Photius. A Ninth-Century Byzantine Debate on Depiction, Visual Perception and Verbal Description

    Christophe Erismann

Jahrbuch der Österreichischen Byzantinistik 70, pp. 67-87, 2021/05/04

doi: 10.1553/joeb70s67


Autor(en):
Titel:
GoID:
Preis:
ISBN13:
Icon Shopping CartArtikel kaufen/Buy article ( € 10,–)

doi: 10.1553/joeb70s67

Einzelpreis €  124,- 

incl. VAT
PDF
X
BibTEX-Export:

X
EndNote/Zotero-Export:

X
RIS-Export:

X 
Researchgate-Export (COinS)

Permanent QR-Code

doi:10.1553/joeb70s67



doi:10.1553/joeb70s67

Abstract

This article proposes a study of a major philosophical claim made by the great figure of the second period of iconoclasm,John the Grammarian. According to John, since the essential properties as well as many of the accidental properties ofa given individual cannot be represented in visual form, an accurate depiction of that individual is impossible. The in-depthanalysis of this claim allows a re-evaluation of John’s logical culture, which turns out to be much more well developed thanhas been argued to date. The second part of the article defends the hypothesis that Photius’s Homily XVII is, in part, a responseto the position of John the Grammarian. The question of visual perception according to Photius is also revisited.

Keywords: Iconoclasm, John the Grammarian, Individuality, Photius, Vision