Chornomorets Y. Theoretical foundations of Christian Neoplatonic Aesthetics of Maximus the Confessor: historical and philosophical analysis

In the dissertation, for the first time in Ukrainian scientific thought, a holistic historical and philosophical analysis of the basic principles and peculiarities of the Christian Neoplatonic Aesthetics of Maximus the Confessor and its influence on the formation of the theoretical substantiation of Byzantine iconodulism was carried out. It is revealed that the doctrine of Maximus the Confessor of the symbol essentially depends from Neoplatonism of Iamblichus and Proclus. The particular importance were the teachings of the synthemas as material ("embodied") symbols, the theurge as the bearer of divine activities. These theories were creative rethinking of Maximus in the creation of his theories of aesthetic hermeneutics, holiness, deification, transcendence, mistagogy. All these theories significantly influenced the formation of theories that justified the Iconodulism in the works of John of Damascus, and, consequently, influenced the Byzantine understanding of symbolism as a whole. It has been proved that the use of theories on the ontological foundations of symbolism by iconodules was of a principally Neoplatonic nature and was a part of a polemic with Christian Platonism, which rejected sacred functions of material symbols and advocated the need for pure spiritualism.