UNIVERSIDAD DE NAVARRA FACULTAD ECLESIÁSTICA DE FILOSOFÍA BONIFACE N. OKAFOR THE THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE IN CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA Extracto de la Tesis Doctoral presentada en la Facultad Eclesiástica de Filosofía de la Universidad de Navarra PAMPLONA 1993 Ad normam Statutorum Facultatis Philosphiae Universitatis Navarrensis, perlegimus et adprobavimus Dr. Marianus ARTIGAS Dr. Modestus SANTOS Coram Tribunali, die 19 mensis septembris, anno 1990, hanc dissertationem ad Lauream Candidatus palam defendit Secretarius Facultatis Dr. Ioseph Emmanuel ZUMAQUERO Excerpta e Dissertationibus in Philosophia Vol. III, n. 2 PROLOGUE Many attempts have been made to present a biography of Clement of Alexandria from the point of view of his life and works. Suffice it to refer to some of such studies and to highlight some fundamental aspects that pertain to the interest of the scope of our study1. Although Clement of Alexandria has been called the father of speculative theology, later to be greatly developed by St Augustine and St. Thomas, the aim of our research work has been to elaborate the theory of knowledge that lies behind Cle ment's speculative thought. In a way, it could be said that we have aimed at grasping Clement's conception of knowledge, the asystematic or multisystematic nature of his writings not withstan ding2. From Clement's own account, there is no doubt that Platonism was his main philosophical formation and that he went in great quest for knowledge and studied under several Christian thinkers3. The most esteemed of these, by Clement; is Pantaenus the founder of the Alexandrian school whom Clement later suc ceeded as the head of the school. About him Clement says: «When I came upon the last (he was the first in power), having traced him out concealed in Egypt, I found rest. He, the true, the Sicilian bee, gathering the spoil of the flowers, of the prophetic and apostolic meadow, engendered in the soul of his hearers a deathless element of knowledge*4. In this regard, W. Wilson rightly affirms in his introductory note to the English translation that: «Titus Flavius Clemens, the illustrious head of the Cate- quetical School at Alexandria at the close of the second century, was originally a pagan philosopher. On embracing Christianity, he eagerly sought the instructions of its most eminent teachers; for this purpose traveling extensively over Greece, Italy, Egypt, Palestine and other regions of the East»5. Among Clement's extant writings, the three major ones are the Protrepticus or The Exhortation to the Heathens, Paedagogus or The Instructor and Stromata or The Miscellanies. Of these three, the 92 BONIFACE N. OKAFOR Stromata is the most philosophical in content. Other works in clude Excerpt ex Theodoto, the Prophetic Eclogues, and Quis Dives Salvetur as well as fragments from the Hypotyposeis. Many of his others works have been lost. The issue of the relationship bet ween his three major works, often referred to as a trilogy, has at tracted a lot of attention and commentaries6. Osborn has highlighted some aspects of Clement's style and thought with par ticular reference to the Stromata. He rightly observes that to get into Clement's thought is to get into a labyrinth of thought. His works show an asystematic presentation of ideas expressed in sym bolic and enigmatic language. Clement's thought is generaly accepted as asystematic in view of the fact that he is not restricted to one previous philosophical system nor school. His eclectic approach to knowledge leads him to accept whatever has been well said by any philosophical school7. As a consequence of this approach to knowledge, Jewish, Greek and Alexandrian speculative heritage are united and employed by Clement for the exposition of the Christian wisdom. Hence Cle ment's unpreparedness to limit himself to only one system of thought, reflects his recognition of the universal nature of truth. It also shows his eclectic approach to knowledge, his appreciation for the truth in each philosophical school and his conviction that no single system could exclusively explain all he had to say. Fur thermore his use of symbolism, a persistent characteristic of Cle ment's thought, is an attempt to reflect the hidden complexity of the relationships between things and therefore between the ideas of our knowledge of them. Although some studies have been carried out on Clement's thought from philosophical, theological, and patristic points of view, little has been done on the theory of knowledge behind Clement's whole thought: his concept of Knowledge and the ap proach to knowledge. Our research work is therefore a contribu tion in this direction. Taking into account the eclectic nature of Clement's thought, we have a special effort to marshal and systematize the relevant textual evidence for what would con stitute Clement's gnoseological view and his theory of knowledge. Hence as much as possible our author has been allowed to speak for himself. Although Clement of Alexandria never produced a systematic work on gnoseology, one can grasp what would con- PROLOGUE 93 stitute his theory of knowledge from the apparently unconnected parts and ideas of his works. To this end we have tried to give abundant references in connection with the topics discussed. This is clearly an advantage of this study. In considering Clement's approach to the problem of knowledge it would be a wrong impression to think that Clement was actually concerned with the elaboration of a theory of knowledge for its own sake or as a philosophical method. Cle ment never sat down to develop systematically a theory of knowledge as many of the modern and contemporary philosophers have tended to do thus giving rise to the different epistemology-centered philosophical systems. In these philosophical systems the theory of knowledge is the foundation for further development as is manifested by the different critiques of the human understanding as the starting point of any philosophical speculation. The core of Clement's originality and merit is intimately connected with his use of the Hellenic philosophical ideas to con vey a harmonious synthesis of a true philosophy. This has been rightly expressed by E.F. Osborn when he affirms that, «to be in troduced to Clement of Alexandria is to be asked a riddle. Here is a man whose thought is scattered and eclectic but whose answers to philosophical questions are illuminating and to the point. The answer to the riddle is that Clement is at once break ing up old systems and creating a new synthesis»8. Consequently in whatever may constitute Clement's theory of knowledge it is no surprise that he employs notions and terminologies belonging to the philosophical schools before him. Hence many ideas taken from Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics and neo-Platonists are frequently to be found in Clement's notion of knowledge as we are to see from the many references that Clement makes to these different philosophical systems. At the core of Clement's thought as a philosopher, as a Christian or as a gnostic, lies an authentic and original view of knowledge which is reflected in the expression of his ideas. As would be expected, references to his works would reflect both philosophical and theological aspects as well as aspects deriving from the cultural milieu in which Clement developed his thought. This fact is nothing rather than a consequence of the nature of 94 BONIFACE N. OKAFOR Clement's thought. Hence the christian truth is an essential ele ment in his conception of knowledge, as expressed by his works. In view of the aspects that we have highlighted so far in this prologue, our research work has involved the search for related ideas in reference to the theory of knowledge behind our author's thought. This is better appreciated when it is borne in mind that Clement puts down in writing the ideas that come to his mind when they do and consequently related ideas are to be found scattered in different parts of his writings. From the vast range of topics dealt with by Clement, we have focused on the most fundamental themes of his thought which most readily reflect his theory of knowledge and his ap proach to knowledge. These themes include: 1) Clement's theory of the Logos as a metaphysical and a gnoseological principle. 2) The acts of the intellect in the process of knowledge. 3) The role of belief in the act of knowledge. 4) Contemplation. 5) Clement's conception of wisdom. Through the discussion of these topics we tried to present the constitutive ideas of Clement's gnoseology with the aim of providing a better understanding of his theory of knowledge. We have also strived to see to what extent the fundamental aspects of the theory of knowledge of the main Greek thinkers later to be found in such great christain thinkers as St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas are already present in Clement of Alexandria. The first chapter of our study deals with Clement's idea of the Logos. According to Clement the Logos is a metaphysical and a gnoseological principle. The divine Logos is considered as the model of the human spiritual intellect possessed by all men as the ordinary faculty of knowledge. Clement also maintains that man counts with an additional principle of knowledge - the divine in spiration through the Logos. Thus natural intellectual apprehension as well as supernatural inspiration and revelation are indispensable elements in Clement's theory of knowledge Furthermore chapter II will also deal with some essential aspects of Clement's logic and his evaluation of the language- concepts-reality relationship. In this context Clement emphasizes the need for rigorous definition and distinguishes between demonstration, syllogism, analysis and rhetoric. He criticizes suspension of judgement and philosophical scepticism while he PROLOGUE 95 upholds the utility of true dialectics. Clement's theory of symbolism will also be considered in this chapter. This would enable us to appreciate why he is of the view that reality is complex and so is our knowledge of it. Consequently the most sublime truths are not immediately apprehended by the intellect but being hidden they are grasped through symbols. Clement attributes very important roles to the will and in tellect in his conception of knowledge. Clement's conception of the voluntary nature of knowledge is seen in his theory of pistis in which he intends to develop a doctrine of belief. The general thesis is that (from the point of view of its cause) knowledge is a voluntary act and consequently one would not know if one does not will to know or if one is sceptical about all truth. Chapter III, titled Belief, deals with Clement's theory of pistis. The aim is to see what role Clement attributes to the will in human knowledge and the corresponding priorities of the in tellect and the will in this regard. Clement's theory of belief which is of Stoic origin has many incorporated Aristotelican and Christian elements of knowledge and truth. He considers knowledge as a voluntary act and the question has been put for ward as to whether Clement could be accused of intellectual voluntarism. In chapter IV Clement's notion of contemplation as intellec tual vision and the object of contemplation are dealt with. He stresses the fact that intellectual and moral separation from matter are necessary for perfect contemplation. The idea of perfect knowledge as contemplation is treated by Clement in knowledge of God. The imperfect knowledge of God through the contempla tion of the universe when perfected culminates in the direct con templation of God, the most sublime object of knowledge. One of the fundamental ideas that runs through Clement's conception of knowledge is that of analogy. This is very much linked with his notion of contemplation. Mirror imagery and the idea of reflection in contemplation form part of Clement's paradigm of knowledge. Clement's notion of wisdom transcends mere natural human wisdom or practical knowledge. His concept of wisdom comprises philosophical, theological and the Christian gnosis. Wisdom ought 96 BONIFACE N. OKAFOR to lead to the possession of the eternal and unchangeable habit of contemplation which is at the same time operative on to complete perfection. The last chapter deals with Clement's conception of wisdom which comprises the knowledge of things both human and divine. Philosophical and Christian truths, gnosis and the ultimate direct contemplation of God are considered by Clement as a continuous and related gradation of wisdom. Among other topics, the discus sion in this chapter will center on Clement's notion of philosophy as a gnoseological instrument of divine Providence in history. As regards philosophical wisdom, Clement conception of philosophy as a divine gnoseological instrument in history is quite original. Clement's concept of the true philosophy is unques tionably eclectic. At the core of Clement's eclecticism is his view that truth is one and universal. Style of Quotations J.J. Sanguineti has already presented some aspects on the manuscripts, editions and translations of Clement's works9. We therefore only wish to give some additional information on the translations and editions of Clement's works from the books con sulted. (See the Appendix of the present study). For quotations from the writings of Clement the texts used include: W. Wilson, Clement of Alexandria (Prot., Paed., Str., and Fragments) English transl., in The Ante-Nicene Fathers, American Reprint of the Edinburgh Edition, Vol. II, Eerdmans, Michigan 1983. Alieto Pieri, Clemente Alessandrino, Protreptico ai Greci, Edi- zione Paoline, Ancona 1966. Giovanni Pini, Clemente Alessandrino, Stromati, Note di Vera Filosofia, Introd., trad, e note, Edizione Paoline, Milano 1985. The numbering in the Stahlin-Friichtel text has been used to correlate the numbering in the quotations. The quotations from Stro- mata Bk. VIII are mainly from the English translation mentioned above owing to the impossibility of obtaining other editions. PROLOGUE 97 Before going further to consider the topics that we have outlined above, we should mention the way in which the references to Clement's works have been made. Prot. VI, 67: refers to the Protrepticus, Chapter VI, paragraph 67 (Edizione Paoline). References to the Paedagogus and to the Stromata comprise of four numbers. The first two roman numerals refer to the book and the corresponding chapter respectively. Paed. I.VI, 36.6: refers to the Paedagogus., Book I, Chapter VI, paragraph 36.6 (Stahlin-Friichtel divisions as presented in the Italian Translations mentioned above by Edizione Paoline) Str. VII.XII, 71.3: refers to the Stromata, Book VII, Chapter XII, paragraph 71.3 (Cfr. the reference to the Paedagogus) In the present excerptum we have limited ourselves to highlighting the main constitutive aspects of Clement's theory of knowledge to be found especially in chapters II and III of the thesis, viz. the roles of the intellect and the will in our author's theory of knowledge. Becasuse of the limited scope of the present work we have therefore left out some parts of the above two chapters as well as prescinded completely of the contents of chapters I, IV and V of the main study. The aspects that have been left out are nevertheless necessary for a complete understan ding of the theory of knowledge in Clement's thought. I wish to use this opportunity to thank all those who in one way or another have contributed to the accomplishment of this work. My special thanks to D. Juan José Sanguineti for his timely suggestions and advice during the elaboration of the thesis, as well as for his taking pains to read and correct the typescripts. My gratitude to D. José Angel Garcia Cuadrado, Josemaria Pastor and José Maria Valero for their technical assistance without which it would have been more arduous to complete this work. NOTES 1. For some ideas on Clement's biography cfr. Eusebio, Hist. Eccl. VI, 11.6 and 14.9 who presents quite a good amount of information on Clement; Giovanni Pini, Clemente Alessandrino Stromati Note di Vera Filosofia, In- trod. trad, e note, Edizione Paoline Milano 1985, pp. 9-10; R. B. Tollinton, Clement of Alexandria, London 1914; G Lazzati, Introduzione allo Studio di Clemente Alessandrino, Milano 1939; J. Patrick, Clement of Alexandria (Edinburgh, 1914) pp. 65 and 106-7; R.P. Casey, Clement of Alexandria and the Beginning of Christian Platonism; «Harvard Theological Review» 18, 1925, pp. 139-41, who rightly stresses the role which Philo played in the formation of Christian Platonism (p. 45). 2. Clement's thought represents an effort to give a philosophical vision of Christianity using the philosophical systems of his time. 3. Cfr.Str. I.I, 11.1; II.II, 8. 4. Str. I.I, 11.2-3. The above passage hints at Pantaenus' eclectic approach to knowledge which no doubt must have influenced Clement. 5. W. Wilson, Clement of Alexandria English transí., in The Ante-Nicene Fathers, American Reprint of the Edinburgh Edition, Vol. II, EERDMANS Michigan 1983, p. 166. 6. Cfr. for instance, G. Lazzati, Introduzione allo Studio di Clemente Alessan drino, Milano 1939, pp. 1-35; C. Mondésert, in his introduction to the Stronzata Bk. I, «Source Chrét», Paris 1951 pp. Uff.; E. Osborn, The Philosophy of Clement of Alexandria, Cambridge 1957, pp. l-12ff. 7. It is important to point out here that this good eclectic attitude found in Clement, is also characteristic of the great Christian thinkers as exemplified by St. Thomas Aquinas' synthesis. Hence one of the motives for studying Clement's gnoseological aspects. 8. E.F. Osborn, The Philosophy of Clement of Alexandria, Cambridge, 1957, p. 13. 9. Cfr. J. J. Sanguined, La Paideia Cristiana de Clemente de Alejandría, Diss., Rome 1968, pp. 5-25.