Late Byzantine philosophical writings show the difficulties of the interpretation of Aristotle’s account of the soul, whether he thinks that the soul is immortal or not (Theodore Metochites). Some Early Byzantine authors claimed that Aristotle believed the soul to be mortal, and they condemned him for it (Ps.-Justin Martyr, Gregory of Nyssa). Some other thinkers claimed that Aristotle defined the soul as immortal and assigned to it an incorporeal mode of being (Michael of Ephesus). Through the interpretative tradition of the Neoplatonic commentators (Philoponus and Ps.-Simplicius) the Byzantine thinkers defended Aristotle’s position that the rational soul alone is immortal (John Italos, Sophonias). They referred to Aristotle’s texts (De anima, Physics 7-8) in which he considers the intellect as functioning separately and possessing an activity which does not require the body. Aristotle’s comparison of the intellect in the body to the pilot of a ship was used to show that he thought the rational soul was separable and immortal (Nikephoros Blemmydes, Theodore Metochites).
Throughout the long era of Christian Byzantium, as with other branches of knowledge, Byzantine psychology shows the vitality of ancient Greek philosophy. Apart from continuity with the ancient Greek philosophical tradition and Greek Patristic sources, Byzantine psychology is characterized by an absence of Arabic philosophical-medical tradition (Avicenna, Averroes). Moreover, the relationship between the Byzantine and Latin West is of interest in connection with philosophical approaches to Aristotle’s philosophy. The existence of numerous translations of Latin works (mostly by Thomas Aquinas) in Byzantium opened more gates to western scholasticism (Gennadios Scholarios). The discussion between Platonic and Aristotelian accounts of the soul continued in the background of the dispute between Gemistos Plethon and Gennadios Scholarios, and the debate continued after the fall of Constantinople 1453 mainly in Italy (Bessarion, Theodore Gazes, John Argyropoulos, George Trapezountios).
See also: > Aristotelianism in the Greek, Latin, Syriac, Arabic, and Hebrew Traditions > Emotions > Epistemology, Byzantine > George Gemistios Plethon > George Scholarios (Gennadios II) > Gregory Palamas > Internal Senses > John Italos > John Philoponus > Maximus the Confessor > Michael of Ephesus > Michael Psellos
> Nikephoros Gregoras > Nikephoros Blemmydes
> Nikephoros Choumnos > Philosophical Psychology
> Philosophy, Byzantine > Sophonias > Theodore Metochites
World History
