Abstract
This paper explores how self-inflicted pain enabled the expression of love for God among Christian monastic flagellant ascetics in medieval central Europe. As scholars have shown, being in a state of pain leads to a change in or a destruction of language, an essential feature of the self. I argue that this transformation allows the self to transcend its boundaries as an object, even if only in part, in a limited manner and temporarily. The epistemic achievement of love for God, a non-object, would not otherwise have been possible. To substantiate my argument, I show that the self’s transformation into a non-object enabled the imitation of God: not solely in the sense of imitatio Christi, of the physical and visual representations of God incarnate in the flesh of His son Christ, but also in the sense of the self’s experience of being a non-object, just like God, the telos of the self’s love.
Presenters
Roni Naor HofriPostdoctoral Fellow / Research Fellow, Centre for Medieval Studies / School of Philosophy, University of York / Tel Aviv University, United Kingdom
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Philosophy of Religion, Pain, Language, Love, Christian Monastic Ascetics
