Plato's Parmenides in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, Vol. 7 (Classic Reprint): A Chapter in the History of Platonic Studies

Excerpt from Plato's Parmenides in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance Altogether severed from their dialeétical context, Plato's sentences reappear with but slight variation as Dionysius' chara&eri§tic of the God It is neither expressed 'nor conceived; neither is it number nor order, nor greatness nor littleness, nor any other thing of those known to us neither is there expression of it nor name nor knowledge. Through this cardinal passage of Dionysius' Theologin Mjfi'iea2 the formula of the Parmenides had a decisive Share in shaping the conception of negative theology, — the process of approaching the Deity by the gradual removal of all positive qualifications. Moreover, by their emphasis on God's unknowableness Dionysius' words became a Starting-point of mediaeval mysticism.