英文摘要 |
Dealing with passions (pathē) has been a perennial concern in ancient philosophy. Stoic philosophy deemed passionlessness (apatheia) as the highest virtue. Early Christian thinkers who were influenced by Greek philosophy also valued the ideal of apatheia and adapted its meaning in the context of Christian asceticism. Based on the work of Evagrius Ponticus (345-399 C.E.), the present research elaborates on how he conceived of pathē and apatheia so as to demonstrate a Christian view of passions in late antiquity. Evagrius is one of the important early Christian thinkers as well as a major representative of Christian mysticism and asceticism. His thought has deeply influenced the development of monastic theology since late antiquity. As a Christian intellectual in the fourth century, he was endowed with the double heritage of Greek thought and biblical tradition, which was much reflected in his work. As the present research shows, it was into his monastic practice in an Egyptian desert that Evagrius transposed the wisdom of ancient philosophy in dealing with pathē and promoting the ideal of apatheia, and further creatively adapted the ideal of apatheia to his Christian context. |