The Boundaries of Scholarly and Philosophical Life in Byzantium: A Sociological Approach
The Boundaries of Scholarly and Philosophical Life in Byzantium: A Sociological Approach

Summary/Abstract: Taking a cue from a recent paper that dismisses Byzantine philosophers as mere scholars incapable of producing innovations, this paper suggests that Byzantine intellectuals from the eleventh to twelfth-century regarded scholarship as a spiritual endeavour that leads to a blessed lifestyle. An analysis of four significant figures in Byzantine intellectual life makes it clear that scholarship and paideia should not be disregarded as the token for a merely antiquarian interest in antiquity but rather as tools for achieving perfection in this life. This special status of perfection is often characterised as an intermediate between an upper and lower boundary, to be identified with philosophy and rhetoric. Finally, the paper locates the self-representation strategy of the Byzantine intellectuals within the broader picture of European intellectual life in the Middle Ages.

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