Epistemological and noological foundations of the doctrine of Barlaam of Calabria on the knowledge of God and the vision of the intellectual light

Abstract

The article proposes a new approach to the reconstruction of the doctrine of Barlaam of Calabria about the knowledge of God and the vision of the “intellectual light” on the basis of its epistemology and noology. In implementing this approach it was found that the basis of Barlaam’s teaching about the absolute unknowability of God is the epistemological principle: “like is known by like”. God, as completely alien to the created world, cannot be known by any of the cognitive abilities of man: neither by “perception”, nor by “opinion and reason”, nor by “mind”. The knowledge or vision of God Himself is in no way inaccessible to man. The knowledge of God is limited by the highest cognitive ability — the mind, its nature and the ability to contemplate intelligible concepts. Therefore the only thing available to man is contemplation (comprehension) in his mind of intellectual concepts (knowledge) about God. The mind, the concepts (knowledge) indwelling in the mind, and the act of thinking — all this is in relation to “dentity” to each other. In this noologically closed system of knowledge of God, the «intelligent light» is the mind that contemplates itself, and through this contemplates in itself all true knowledge about God. The knowledge of God and the vision of God are thus reduced by Barlaam to an intellectual act of self-knowledge. The article also examines the doctrine of Barlaam about the difference between intellectual light, Tabor light and supersubstantial light.