The soul knows what I don't?
- (2) For the Orthodox the created/uncreated distinction is more than merely a description of origin, but this is not particularly Aristotlean. You might be able to get a sense of what we mean by them in St. John of Damascus, although he does not provide a rigorous definition.
- (3) Orthodoxy has been philosophical ever since St. John wrote, "εν αρχη ην ο λογος". I think the difference is knowing when to stop probing the Mystery and to simply stand in awe of it, hence the marked preference for the apophatic approach. Unless you're intending to point out is that Orthodoxy is more experiential? But not only Orthodoxy. Aquinas was right, in the end. TCC (talk) (contribs) 22:14, 8 August 2005 (UTC)
For an Aristotelian the Categories have nothing whatsoever to do with origin. They are purely a matter of meaning and definition. One defines a thing by similarity and difference. That is to say by genus and species. The genus is a category into which one places the subject. The definition first tells what is similar between the subject of the definition and others of that genus. Then it tells us how the subject differs from those others. That difference specifies the subject. For example, to define a horse one could say, for example, that it is a mammal. Then one would explain how a horse differs from other mammals.
Aristotle saw that the whole theory of definition by genus and species has a flaw. In particular one must have some genus or genuses to begin the process. He proposed a list of ten: substance, quantity, relation, quality, action, passion, time, space, position and state, saying that whatever one wished to define must fall into exactly one of those categories.
The Eastern Churches are theological, not philosophical. The two terms are clearly related, but not the same.
Somehow this dialog seems to have diverged from the subject of Communion and the Developmentally Disabled. If you wish we may continue here, but perhaps it would better to do so at User:Sophroniscus/The soul knows what I don't?