Scholars attuned to the mystical content in Cormac McCarthy’s novels focus primarily on what potential religious conclusions might be drawn from them. This dissertation argues that McCarthy’s prose, approached as stylized performances of linguistic failure, performs something quite different than what the scholarly assessments claim. Rather than mining McCarthy’s novels for indirect forms of religious affirmation, this project proposes a distinctive approach to McCarthy’s work: a narrative apophatic mysticism. Attention to the non-assertive character of apophasis or “un-saying” reveals that McCarthy’s philosophical and religious allusions perform their own collapse. In the tradition of apophatic mysticism, the novels represent an ordered failure of representation that indicates toward transcendence without rendering it explicitly. The result is the fictional production of indicative signs that keep assertions and information in suspense while gesturing toward the ineffable. Adapting interpretive approaches from Michael Sells and Charles Peirce, this dissertation approaches McCarthy’s novels by means of five rhetorical categories based on mystical traditions represented by Pseudo-Dionysius, Hadewijch, Meister Eckhart, Jacob Boehme, as well as work by Elaine Scarry and Bernard McGinn. These interpretive rhetorical categories are 1) the broken references of names; 2) the logic of ontological grounds; 3) the collapse of conceptual space; 4) potential infinite capacity of bodily pain; and finally, 5) the explicit argumentative tension within the novels generated by the other four categories. Through the repetitive use of apophatic themes over several texts, McCarthy’s novels simultaneously erode assertions about the nature of fate, justice, and being, indicating that the final truth of these important concepts is not reduceable to linguistic expression or artifice. By adapting apophatic literary techniques of religious and philosophical traditions referenced in his texts, McCarthy incubates within fiction an ancient mode of rhetoric meant to orient the reader toward ineffable truths, offering narrative apophasis as a form of imaginative spiritual exercise.

Not much ink has been spilled over John Donne’s relationship to negative, or apophatic, theology. A few scholars have written about apophatic discourse in Donne’s poetry and sermons, but, in general, the subject continues to be overlooked. This thesis seeks to (re)start the conversation by shedding light on Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions, a text which has yet to be linked to the negative tradition despite its clear engagement in apophatic discourse. Indeed, throughout Devotions, Donne wields several apophatic strategies when speaking of God including via negativa, predicates of action, linguistic regress, paradox, and a consistent reliance upon metaphorical language. Each of these strategies uphold the two guiding principles of negative theology: the epistemic thesis which asserts that God is incomprehensible, and the semantic thesis which asserts that God is unspeakable therefore can only stand as the subject term in negative propositions. Significantly, my objective is not merely to qualify Devotions as an example of apophatic discourse; I also intend to contemplate the implications of qualifying it as such, namely how Devotions challenges the long-held assumption that apophasis requires the user to relinquish the body. Across the text, Donne’s apophasis does not lead him to un-body; on the contrary, the body gains new importance as Donne imagines the risen body, the interpersonal body, the body that cannot be lost because it is an inextricable facet of selfhood. Again, my hope is that this thesis will (re)start or (re)energize the conversation around Donne’s relationship to negative theology, a relationship that is much richer and more extensive than current scholarship suggests.

Max Horkheimer’s mature works on theology and Schopenhauerian metaphysics have been portrayed by subsequent critical theorists as an illicit regression from his earlier social theory in a two-fold sense. First, his concern to reflect on empirical experience is replaced with speculation regarding intelligible concepts, i.e. concepts that do not arise from observation on the basis of sense-intuition but are rather products of “pure” reason (God) or the imagination (Schopenhauer’s will). Second, his advocacy of the Enlightenment as an emancipatory political project is replaced by its skeptical critique. I argue that this consensus radically misunderstands the concerns animating the late Horkheimer insofar as his reflections on intelligible concepts are both intimately related to a continuing concern with empirical inquiry, as well as an outworking of his commitment to the realization of the Enlightenment. The argument is presented in three related movements. In the first, I interpret Horkheimer’s oeuvre in terms of his pervasive interest in developing a materialist logic. I begin by outlining his early understanding of thought as a form of inquiry for embodied social subjects (chapter 1), before noting how, in his mature theorizing, this account serves as a basis for a presentation of the relationship between various kinds of inquiry and the practice of social critique (chapter 2). In the second, I contend that Horkheimer’s critique of instrumental reason is best understood as congruent with this materialist logic, not as a speculative departure from an earlier concern with empirical inquiry. I begin by examining Horkheimer’s empirical analysis of how historical changes in the basic institutions defining political economy in modern life affect the reasoning habits of subjects (chapter 3). I then turn to his diagnosis of the way such changes affect the selfunderstanding of modern subjects, leading to a pervasive form of alienation (chapter 4). In the final movement, I present Horkheimer’s turn to theological concepts of the intelligible as a therapeutic response to this alienation. First, I examine his understanding of the content of theological concepts as well as how such concepts may be preserved in a form appropriate to modern life (chapter 5), and conclude by illustrating his own attempt at such a retrieval in his late reflections on the Jewish liturgy (chapter 6). In the conclusion, I note that this interpretation offers a constructive challenge to philosophers concerned with the tradition of critical theory. On the one hand, Horkheimer articulates what would be required for the fulfillment of the Enlightenment project in terms critical theorists will recognize as their own, by offering an account of the social practices that are necessary for the self-determination of the subject. Yet his presentation contests a fundamental axiom of such theorists regarding the role intelligible concepts ought to play in seeking this goal. Horkheimer defends an account of the significance of the liturgy for practices of reasoning that is quiet foreign to such theorists. Instead of setting liturgical reasoning over against a militantly “secular” Enlightenment, he demonstrates that such reasoning is integral to its fulfillment.

[pt] O presente trabalho tem como objetivo investigar de que forma Paulo faz emergir das Escrituras Sagradas um pensamento sobre a linguagem, com foco em suas cartas aos romanos e aos coríntios. Testa-se a hipótese de que comparece ali uma perspectiva de linguagem pragmática. Dar-se-á ênfase especial a dois aspectos interligados: o modo como Paulo aborda, através de metáforas, a presença das metáforas nas Escrituras; e o modo como a questão do indizível e o gênero apofático se manifestam nas suas epístolas. Nas análises do presente estudo mostra-se que (a) apesar de haver passagens em que a metáfora é colocada no discurso tal qual uma espécie de ornamento, como um meio de obter o entendimento e a atenção dos ouvintes, conforme prevê a clássica teoria aristotélica, com a tensão letra x espírito, o apóstolo vem romper com o primado da literalidade e do significado próprio da palavra, em diversos momentos nos quais a metáfora, muito mais que agente de um impacto estético ou retórico, aparece como um recurso que permite uma aproximação indireta com Deus – o que permite entrever nos escritos paulinos elementos de teorias posteriores da metáfora, onde é tomada como fenômeno fundante; (b) ao tratar do tema do divino, Paulo lhe atribui sua característica de inefabilidade, consoante alguns pensadores gregos que lhe antecederam, porém, em seu discurso, a indizibilidade pode sair do campo do incognoscível e ser sondada pelas criaturas, contanto que se libertem da letra que mata, pois através do espírito o homem pode conhecer a Deus – que é Espírito – face a face; (c) tornar o indizível cognoscível, pela atividade do espírito, não significa, absolutamente, torná-lo dizível. / [en] The present work aims to investigate in what way Paul makes a perspective of language emerge from the Scriptures, focusing on his Epistles written to the Romans and Corinthians. It is tested the hypothesis that there is a pragmatic perspective of language in these Epistles. Special emphasis is given to two interconnected aspects: the way with which Paul approaches, using metaphors, the presence of metaphors in the Scriptures; and the way that the issue of the unspeakable and the apophatic genre manifest in his Epistles. The analyses of selected passages shows mainly that (a) although there are passages in which metaphor is put in the discourse as a kind of ornament, or lure, as a way of obtaining the understanding and attention of listeners, just as classic Aristotelic theories predict, the Apostle, with the tension between letter and spirit, breaks away from the ideas of the primacy of literalness and intrinsic word meaning, in many occasions where metaphor, considered not only as mere agent of aesthetic or rhetoric impact, appears as a resource that enables an indirect approach to God – which is something that brings Paulo’s perspective closer to later theories of metaphor in which it is taken as a founding phenomenon; (b) in order to approach the theme of the divine, Paul attributes to it the characteristic of ineffability, in accordance with some Greek intellectuals who preceded him; however, in his discourse, the unsayable can part off with the unknowable and be probed by humans, as long as they free themselves from the letter that kills, once only through the spirit men can know God – who is Spirit – face to face; (c) rendering the unspeakable acknowledgeable, through the activity of the spirit, does not mean, unquestionably, making it sayable.

Três eram as principais tarefas da retórica clássica: instruir, deleitar e mover as almas à ação. Nas Confissões, contudo, percebe-se que elas são excedidas por um emprego nada convencional dos recursos da ars, de que rhetor Agostinho era mestre, a fim de perse-guir finalidade filosófica ulterior: dizer o indizível. Trata-se do uso duma palavra retórica que se quer circular, tautócrona, oblíqua, poética, oracular e paradoxal, em sua eloquência silenciosa. Numa primeira parte, pretende-se ressaltar a circularidade e tautocronia dessa palavra retórica que quer invocar, louvar e conhecer o incognoscível, mas que não prescinde da fé, tampouco da inteligência daquilo em que pretende crer e que quer apregoar, o que se faz por meio duma leitura analítica dos dois primeiros parágrafos do livro inaugural (Conf. 1,1,1-2). Na sequência, procura-se analisar os mecanismos elocutórios, de modo especial o oximoro, da palavra retórica com que Agostinho pretende dar conta da própria Palavra divina, Verbum que se fez carne. De duas maneiras se destacam essas ferramentas retóricas. Primeiro, por sua obliquidade, própria a uma linguagem que busca incessantemente extrapolar seus limites, encontrando um certo modo novo de dizer com arte, segundo a definição de figura de Quintiliano. Depois, por seu inusitado silêncio, próprio dum dizer que nada diz, em sua pretensão de exprimir o inexprimível, e que nesse não dizer diz mais do que se tivesse dito muito. Trata-se, pois, duma retórica do silêncio, que não se conforma em não dizer o indizível, pretendendo superar os limites impostos por um discurso de gênero redutor, que nega qualquer possibilidade de dizer aquilo que se tem por inefável, o Ser supremo, ainda que se veja reduzida a fazê-lo através dum espelho, em enigma (1Cor 13,12). Lo-go, desenvolve-se neste trabalho um estudo filosófico das técnicas retóricas utilizadas pelo pensador de Hipona, de modo especial as figuras de elocução, que se utilizam como meio de ultrapassar os limites duma linguagem estritamente apofática, a fim de que se cumprisse a missão cristã da pregação do Verbo encarnado. / Three were the main tasks of classical rhetoric: instruct, delight and move souls to action. In the Confessions, however, one realizes that they are exceeded by an uncon-ventional application of the arss resources, of which the rhetor Augustine was master, in order to pursue a further philosophical purpose: saying the unsayable. This is done primarily by the use of a rhetoric word that pretends to be circular, simultaneous, oblique, poetic, oracular and paradoxical, in its silent eloquence. Firstly it is intended to emphasize the circularity and simultaneity of this rhetoric word that wants to invoke, praise and know the unknowable, but that neither prescinds from faith nor from the un-derstanding of what it wants to believe in and proclaim, what is done by means of an analytical reading of the first two paragraphs of the opening book (Conf. 1.1.1-2). Sub-sequently, with an special emphasis on the oxymoron, the elocution mechanisms are analyzed: the rhetoric word with which Augustine gives an account of the divine Word, the Verbum that was made flesh. These rhetorical tools stand out in two ways. First, by their obliquity, peculiar to a language that ceaselessly seeks to extrapolate its limits, finding a certain new way to say with art, according to Quintilians definition of figure. Then, by its unaccustomed silence, peculiar to a saying that nothing says, in its aspira-tion to express the inexpressible, and by not saying it says more than if it had much said. And that is what is named a rhetoric of silence: one that does not resign itself to not saying the unsayable and intends to overcome the limits imposed by a reductive gender of discourse which denies any possibility of saying what is considered to be ineffable, the Supreme Being, even if it sees itself obliged to perform it through a mirror, in a riddle (1Cor 13,12). Therefore, it is developed in this work a philosophical study of the rhetorical techniques utilized by the thinker of Hippo, especially the figures of speech, which are put to use as a means to overcome the limits of a strictly apophatic language, so that the Christian mission could be fulfilled, preaching the Incarnate Word.

Três eram as principais tarefas da retórica clássica: instruir, deleitar e mover as almas à ação. Nas Confissões, contudo, percebe-se que elas são excedidas por um emprego nada convencional dos recursos da ars, de que rhetor Agostinho era mestre, a fim de perse-guir finalidade filosófica ulterior: dizer o indizível. Trata-se do uso duma palavra retórica que se quer circular, tautócrona, oblíqua, poética, oracular e paradoxal, em sua eloquência silenciosa. Numa primeira parte, pretende-se ressaltar a circularidade e tautocronia dessa palavra retórica que quer invocar, louvar e conhecer o incognoscível, mas que não prescinde da fé, tampouco da inteligência daquilo em que pretende crer e que quer apregoar, o que se faz por meio duma leitura analítica dos dois primeiros parágrafos do livro inaugural (Conf. 1,1,1-2). Na sequência, procura-se analisar os mecanismos elocutórios, de modo especial o oximoro, da palavra retórica com que Agostinho pretende dar conta da própria Palavra divina, Verbum que se fez carne. De duas maneiras se destacam essas ferramentas retóricas. Primeiro, por sua obliquidade, própria a uma linguagem que busca incessantemente extrapolar seus limites, encontrando um certo modo novo de dizer com arte, segundo a definição de figura de Quintiliano. Depois, por seu inusitado silêncio, próprio dum dizer que nada diz, em sua pretensão de exprimir o inexprimível, e que nesse não dizer diz mais do que se tivesse dito muito. Trata-se, pois, duma retórica do silêncio, que não se conforma em não dizer o indizível, pretendendo superar os limites impostos por um discurso de gênero redutor, que nega qualquer possibilidade de dizer aquilo que se tem por inefável, o Ser supremo, ainda que se veja reduzida a fazê-lo através dum espelho, em enigma (1Cor 13,12). Lo-go, desenvolve-se neste trabalho um estudo filosófico das técnicas retóricas utilizadas pelo pensador de Hipona, de modo especial as figuras de elocução, que se utilizam como meio de ultrapassar os limites duma linguagem estritamente apofática, a fim de que se cumprisse a missão cristã da pregação do Verbo encarnado. / Three were the main tasks of classical rhetoric: instruct, delight and move souls to action. In the Confessions, however, one realizes that they are exceeded by an uncon-ventional application of the arss resources, of which the rhetor Augustine was master, in order to pursue a further philosophical purpose: saying the unsayable. This is done primarily by the use of a rhetoric word that pretends to be circular, simultaneous, oblique, poetic, oracular and paradoxical, in its silent eloquence. Firstly it is intended to emphasize the circularity and simultaneity of this rhetoric word that wants to invoke, praise and know the unknowable, but that neither prescinds from faith nor from the un-derstanding of what it wants to believe in and proclaim, what is done by means of an analytical reading of the first two paragraphs of the opening book (Conf. 1.1.1-2). Sub-sequently, with an special emphasis on the oxymoron, the elocution mechanisms are analyzed: the rhetoric word with which Augustine gives an account of the divine Word, the Verbum that was made flesh. These rhetorical tools stand out in two ways. First, by their obliquity, peculiar to a language that ceaselessly seeks to extrapolate its limits, finding a certain new way to say with art, according to Quintilians definition of figure. Then, by its unaccustomed silence, peculiar to a saying that nothing says, in its aspira-tion to express the inexpressible, and by not saying it says more than if it had much said. And that is what is named a rhetoric of silence: one that does not resign itself to not saying the unsayable and intends to overcome the limits imposed by a reductive gender of discourse which denies any possibility of saying what is considered to be ineffable, the Supreme Being, even if it sees itself obliged to perform it through a mirror, in a riddle (1Cor 13,12). Therefore, it is developed in this work a philosophical study of the rhetorical techniques utilized by the thinker of Hippo, especially the figures of speech, which are put to use as a means to overcome the limits of a strictly apophatic language, so that the Christian mission could be fulfilled, preaching the Incarnate Word.

It is apparent that what is characterized as Christian Apophatic Theology has been poorly related to its antecedents existing in Greco-Roman philosophy. This study proposed the following research hypothesis: Greco-Roman philosophy exerted a structural and terminological influence upon Christian apophatic theology. To prove or disprove this hypothesis, apophatic terminology and textual structures in Greco-Roman philosophical texts were compared to classic Christian apophatic texts, primarily from the Apostolic and Cappadocian Fathers. Throughout this process, Michael Sells' clasic definition of apophatic language, consisting of the apearance of the metaphor of emanation, dis-ontological language, and dialectical language of immanence and transcendence, was used as a benchmark for the occurrence of apophatic language in the texts examined. It was found that Greco-Roman pagan apophatic philosophy exerted significantly less structural than terminological influence. Thus, this research will strengthen claims that Platonic and Neo-Platonic terminology was simply overlaid atop a pre-existing Semitic-Christian apophatic framework.

No description available.

[pt] Esta dissertação investiga o uso de discursos apofáticos como ferramentas epistemológicas nas situações em que a linguagem parece alcançar seus limites, com ênfase especial no contexto místico-religioso. Como falar de Deus, compreender a natureza última da realidade ou conceber o que havia “antes” da origem do universo? Tanto místicos, religiosos e poetas quanto filósofos, físicos e cosmólogos lidam com questões como essas há bastante tempo. Ao longo da história, a linguagem catafática (afirmativa) pareceu a muitos destes não dar conta de respondê-las; e, percebendo-a como insuficiente, as grandes religiões, em especial, adotaram um tipo de discurso que veio a ser conhecido como discurso apofático, ou via negativa. A fim de examinar algumas técnicas de negação empregadas por místicos e contemplativos diante das dificuldades que encontram para falar sobre o inefável, esta dissertação contrasta as obras de duas figuras centrais em suas respectivas tradições religiosas: Teologia Mística, do cristão Dionísio Areopagita, e Fundamentos do Caminho do meio, do budista Nagarjuna - textos conhecidos por levarem a negação ao extremo. Por meio dessa comparação, e apoiando-se, principalmente, nos comentadores Denys Turner, Eric Perl e Giuseppe Ferraro, este estudo aponta e discute diferenças significativas entre as linguagens negativas empregadas nas duas obras. Discute por fim, de modo pontual, como esses discursos se relacionam com contrapartes e paralelos contemporâneos, como o pensamento filosófico de Jacques Derrida e as descobertas da física moderna no início do século XX. / [en] This dissertation seeks to investigate the use of apophatic discourses as epistemological tools in situations where language seems to reach its limits, with special emphasis on the mystical-religious context. How to talk about God, understand the ultimate nature of reality or conceive what was before the origin of the universe? Mystics, religious people and poets, as well as philosophers, physicists and cosmologists have been dealing with issues like these for a long time. Throughout history, catapathic (affirmative) language has seemed, to many of them, to be unable to answer these questions; and, perceiving it as insufficient, the great religions, in particular, adopted a type of discourse that came to be known as apophatic discourse, or via negativa. In order to examine some techniques of negation employed by mystics and contemplatives in the face of the difficulties they encounter in talking about the ineffable, this dissertation contrasts the works of two central figures in their respective religious traditions: Mystical Theology, by the Christian Dionysius, the Areopagite, and The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way, by the Buddhist Nagarjuna - texts known for taking denial to the extreme. Through this comparison, and relying mainly on the commentators Denys Turner, Eric Perl and Giuseppe Ferraro, this study points out and discusses significant differences between the negative languages used in the two works. Finally, it discusses, briefly, how these discourses relate to contemporary counterparts and parallels, such as the philosophical thought of Jacques Derrida and the discoveries of modern physics in the early 20th century.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-25T19:20:24Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Fabiano de Oliveira Mina.pdf: 1438012 bytes, checksum: 353d26d5873fa7aec6980e2cd3956e33 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-10-25 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This study, work under the Nicholas of Cusa s De Docta Ignorantia, aims to present an epistemology apophatic (denial knowledge) aiming at "function of denial", contributing to discussions relevant to the Theory of Knowledge, justified by the material produced little bias in this epistemological author and this work is compared to others in Brazil. Therefore, contributing to the appreciation of the Department of Religious Sciences. Fundamentally it is a theoretical analysis of the first two books in this same work, analyzing the limits of reason (ratio) before the intuition (intellectus), under the concepts Absolute Maximum, Privative Universe and Concrete Maximum, the relationship between Creator (One) and creature. The creation (explicatio) contained in God (complicatio) inevitably requires an "apophatic dialectic" that assumes the paradoxalidades in and of the world. Therefore, a Apophatic Philosophy". This requires that we become "ignorant scholars" / Esta dissertação, sob a obra De Docta Ignorantia de Nicolau de Cusa, tem como objetivo apresentar uma epistemologia apofática (conhecimento via negação) com vistas na função da negação , contribuindo para discussões pertinentes à Teoria do Conhecimento, justificado pelo pouco material produzido nesse viés epistemológico desse autor e obra se comparado a outros no Brasil. Portanto, contribuindo também para apreciação do Departamento de Ciências da Religião. Fundamentalmente é uma análise teórica dos dois primeiros livros dessa mesma obra, analisando os limites da razão (ratio) diante da intuição (intellectus), sob os conceitos Máximo Absoluto, Universo Privativo e Máximo Concreto, na relação entre Criador (Uno) e criatura. A criação (explicatio), contida em Deus (complicatio), inevitavelmente exige uma dialética apofática que assume as paradoxalidades no e do mundo. Portanto, uma Filosofia Apofática . Para isso é necessário que nos tornemos doutos ignorantes