Practices of the Self and Spiritual Practices. Michel Foucault and the Eastern Christian Discourse

In this book Sergey Horujy undertakes a novel comparative analysis of Foucault's theory of practices of the self and the Eastern Orthodox ascetical tradition of Hesychasm, revealing great affinity between these two radical "subject-less" approaches to anthropology. As he facilitates the dialogue between the two, he offers both an original treatment of ascetical and mystical practices and an up-to-date interpretation of Foucault that goes against the grain of mainstream scholarship. In the second half of the book Horujy transitions from the dialogue with Foucault to his own work of Christian philosophy, rooted in — but not limited to — the Eastern Christian philosophical and theological tradition. Horujy's thinking exemplifies the postsecular nature of our contemporary period and serves as a powerful invitation to think beyond religious- secular divides in philosophy and Eastern-Western divides in intellectual history

The <i>Philokalia</i>:corrugating the texture of Christian-inspired literature

The Philokalia is a title of large anthologies of Christian spiritual texts from the fourth to fifteenth centuries, first published in print at the end of the eighteenth century. The literary form of most philokalic texts adopts the kephalaia‐genre, which was popular in the Byzantine literature and has its historical roots in the works of Greek and Latin antique literatures. As a Christian spiritual text, the Philokalia continues the tradition of Paterica and has the Christian virtue of love as its central subject. The Russian translation known as Dobrotolubiye and the book The Way of the Pilgrim significantly contributed to the popularization of the Philokalia, which became one of the most widely read and translated works of Christian spiritual literature today. Providing an expression of a living tradition, the Philokalia remains a dynamic textual corpus transcending linguistic, chronological, and geographical boundaries and exercising considerable impact on various religious, literary, and cultural developments