A Trial of Interpretation of Meister Eckhart’s Thought on God and Man through the Analysis of Its Paradoxes
A Trial of Interpretation of Meister Eckhart’s Thought on God and Man through the Analysis of Its Paradoxes
Author(s): Zbigniew KaźmierczakSubject(s): Philosophy, History of Philosophy, Metaphysics, Philosophy of Middle Ages, 19th Century Philosophy, Existentialism, Philosophy of Mind, Philosophy of Religion
Published by: Towarzystwo Naukowe KUL & Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II
Keywords: contradictions; Eckhart; mysticism; interpretation of contradictions; God; man; power; will to power; salvation; Nietzsche
Summary/Abstract: This article interprets Eckhart’s contradictions by presenting them as a result of an existential search for salvific power. It is shown that power is ambivalent in nature: it is the power of what is and the power of (self)overcoming (of what is). Just because power is in itself ambivalent and the process of searching for it existentialist (so not completely conscious), Eckhart’s mystical texts are full of contradictions and the German mystic is apparently not aware of it. The sample of them is shown in this article with regard to his ideas on God and man. Three other interpretations of Eckhart’s (“apophatic,” “educational,” “methodological”) are presented and argued against.
Journal: Roczniki Filozoficzne
- Issue Year: 65/2017
- Issue No: 1
- Page Range: 5-22
- Page Count: 18
- Language: English