Periodic Reporting for period 1 - INdifference (The Interpretation of Differentia during Late Antique and Early Christian Thought)
Période du rapport: 2020-04-01 au 2022-03-31
“The Interpretation of Differentia during late antique and early Christian Thought” (INdifference) is an interdisciplinary research project dedicated to the conceptual interaction between antique philosophy and early Christianity. The aim of the project is to explore how the concept of difference (Lat. ‘differentia’; Gr. ‘διαφορά’), originally a technical notion in ancient logic, entered into Christian thought and how it has evolved during the 5-7th century Christian doctrinal disputes. These Christian debates under focus in the project concerned the reception of an earlier teaching about the duality of Christ, seen as unique person consisting of one divine and one human nature and was established by the Christian Church through the Council of Chalcedon (451CE). Subsequent interpretations of the Council’s teaching have led to a historical and still ongoing split of the Christians into pro-Chalcedonians and anti-Chalcedonians which is. The former have advocated the reality of the natures of Christ both before and after Incarnation and asked that the number and the difference of these natures must be always affirmed in order to confirm the orthodoxy of the doctrine. In opposition to this, the anti-Chalcedonians denied the last part of the clause and refrained from talking about differentia after Incarnation for the reason that the human nature of Christ does not exist in difference from the divine nature of Christ anymore. The importance of INdifference thus stems from its focus on a major conceptual rift within Christianity which has contributed to an ongoing contemporaneous doctrinal separation. The hypothesis of this research is that the Christian authors appropriated the notion of differentia from ancient philosophy and transformed it under the pressure of the doctrinal wrangles into a cardinal idea for the determination of orthodoxy during this age. The overall objectives of the action have been to train the fellow in acquiring: 1) Specific methodologies and concepts meant to help him (a) select, and (b) analyze relevant philosophical and Christian sources, (c) identify the means for the potential transmission of the significant philosophical ideas in the relevant Christian literature and (d) evaluate the impact of these philosophical ideas upon the construction of the competing Christian theories under study; 2) Complementary methods and further tools for the study of Christianity and Late Antiquity; 3) New or additional training and improvement of transferable skills relevant for an academic career such as outreach activities, teaching, applying for further research funding and enhancing the applicant’s awareness of gender, human diversity and inclusion. All objectives of the action have been fully achieved.
The work related to the action has been devised along four working packages (WP1-4) and was undertaken under the supervision of Professor FAJ de Haas at the Institute for Philosophy, Leiden University. The intended objectives of WP1 have been to identify the first relevant sources concerning the relation between early Christianity and philosophy bearing on the problem of differentia in antiquity. The results of this WP include: 1) the delivery of one conference paper; 2) the establishing of one academic web page for outreach and one blog website; 3) the teaching of a research seminar for international students. WP2 focused on the transmission of the philosophical ideas into Christian literature about difference and division. The outputs are: 1) the delivery of one conference paper; 2) the submission of one peer-reviewed article accepted for publication in a collective volume forthcoming in 2023. The activities undertaken WP3 responded to the evaluation of the further employment of the differentia in the Christian thought. The results of this WP3 are: 1) the delivery of 2 conference papers; 2) The organization of an International Workshop together with the host institution; 4) the submission of another article for publication to an international peer-reviewed journal. WP4 has concerned the interpretation of the differentia and its relation with the other major philosophical notions explored in the project. The actions under WP4 are: 1) The offering of 2 conference papers; 2) The joint organization of second International Workshop; 3) The successful contracting of a specialized publishing house for the publication of a peer-reviewed co-edited volume; 4) The submission of one single-authored paper and one co-authored paper for the co-edited volume; 5) The submission of another single-authored article to a peer-review international journal. Further training for complementary methods has been ensured through: the attendance of four specialized training courses in ancient languages and culture; the participation in one specialized research and text-reading seminar, and the attendance of a total of 23 online academic talks and conferences. Additional training in transferable skills has been ensured through participation in a total of 8 events hosted by Leiden University on ERC and NWO granting and application; Inclusivity within Academia; Academic Outreach; Training Job Search & Interview Skills; and one training session managing academic references. Dissemination towards the academic peers has first taken place through the 6 talks offered to international gatherings, through the organization of two international conferences and will continue through the further accepted papers for publication. Dissemination toward more general public has been done through the offering of an introductory talk for a religious group in the Netherlands whose doctrine has been under the main focus of the project, and through dedicated postings on the actions of the project published on the fellow's personal academia web page and will continue in the long run on the project's dedicated blog website. This will include the link to a dedicated material on the theme of the project published on another popular academic blog website and through the link to a radio broadcast in which the fellow reports on the topic and results of the action. The exploitation of all published papers is ensured through the placing of an electronic version of them in the Leiden University specialized repository or through establishing Green Open Access to them on the publisher's dedicated website.
INdifference has gone beyond the state of the art by successfully introducing a less explored philosophical concept, e.g. differentia, in the scholarly analysis of traditional Christian debates. The expected publication of all the submitted articles and chapters will provide a more complex and subtle picture about the conceptual intricacies of the early Christian disputes which should be interpreted in connection with the advancements in philosophy. By claiming to have as its main result the identification of the two main opposed philosophical theories which were hidden in the religious arguments at stake, INdifference offers historian of ideas and religion a new paradigm about the interpretation of a historical clash within Christian theories in late antiquity. In terms of wider societal impact, the results will prove useful for the inter-faith dialogue by offering new concepts and new tools for the interpretation of the long standing doctrinal disagreement against a more unitary and highly refined conceptual framework by late antique philosophy.