Abstract: Plato’s and Aristotle’s investigations based on the very concept of wisdom and the relationship between sophia and saphia lead us to the metaphysics of light, developed later in Christian thought and neoplatonism, the beginnings of which we observe in the early Greek thinkers and authors and exegesis writers of books that are the foundation of various religions. The metaphor of light permeates the entire Mediterranean philosophical and mystery reflection from Parmenides and Plato to Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite. First and foremost light was the essential element in the philosophy of Pseudo-Dionysius Areopagite who provided Christian thought with rich presuppositions and themes. His metaphysics of light contained imagery that inspired Abbot Suger, the builder of first French gothic cathedral in Saint Denys abbacy. Suger applied the Dionysian vision and transformed mystical wisdom into the real world. The main purpose of the article is to highlight the gnostic aspect of the reflection on the light in the writings of Pseudo-Dionysius.

Authors: Blandzi, Seweryn

DOI: 10.17846/CL.2021.14.1.59-64

Publication order reference: prof. Seweryn Blandzi; Polish Academy of Sciences, Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Head of Dep. Of Ancient Philosophy And History of Ontology, Nowy Swiat 72, 00-330 Warsaw, Poland; email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Source: Konštatínove listy, 2021, vol.: 14, issue:12, pages: 59-64 (PDF file)

Keywords: PARMENIDES, PLATO, NEOPLATONISM, METAPHYSICS OF LIGHT, PS. DIONYSIUS THE AREOPAGITE, ABBOT SUGER, ST. DENIS MONASTERY

Language: ENGLISH