Logic and the Application of Names to God
in Gregory of Nyssa: Contra Eunomium ISearch for other papers by G. Christopher Stead in
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This paper, presented originally in the 6th International Colloquium on Gregory of Nyssa and now re-edited, deals with the conception of the problem of the names of God during the seven centuries that extend from Plato to Gregory. The starting point is the question brought up by Plato’s Cratylus concerning whether the correct use of names is merely a matter of convention or it rather has some basis in nature. Subsequently, the paper presents the Aristotelian view on name, conceived as a significant spoken sound by convention, and statement, through which only a combination of names and verbs signifies something true or false. With regard to the Stoics, this paper highlights the elaboration of a better classification of the parts of speech, their innovative theory of “propositions”, and their role in the clarification of the term epinoia, which is a key concept in the controversy aroused by Eunomius. At last, this paper deals with the names applied to God, beginning from Philo of Alexandria up until the fourth century and the Eunomian doctrine.