Abstract
John of Damascus, born in Damascus (c.650/75), died in or near Jerusalem (c.750), after living there for about half a century as a monk: polemist defending conciliar (Orthodox) Christianity, preacher, liturgical poet, and author of 150 Philosophical and Theological Chapters, which he perhaps intended to develop into a tripartite work, called the Fount of Knowledge. The first part of this work (in either of its forms) is a Christian textbook of logic, to help Christians, living under Islam, to express and defend their faith. This is the most explicitly philosophical of his works, though largely derivative. John’s philosophical contribution lies in his clarification of the philosophical, especially ontological, terminology, fashioned to express the Christian faith, in the course of which he develops a metaphysical synthesis revolving round the notion of hypostatic selfhood. Other philosophical topics for which John is important include divine providence and its relationship to human freedom, the notion of the will, and the place of images in human understanding.
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Bibliography
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Louth, A. (2018). John of Damascus. In: Lagerlund, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Medieval Philosophy. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-1151-5_602-1
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