Existentials of the gnostic myth on the example of the papyruses of the collection of books «Nag Hammadi library»

Authors

  • Yaraslau A. Kakhavets Belarusian State University, 4 Niezaliezhnasci Avenue, Minsk 220030, Belarus

Keywords:

Gnosticism, existentialism, anthropology, Nag Hammadi, fundamental ontology, Geworfenheit, awakening, existence, Angst, das Man, In-der-Welt-sein

Abstract

The article contains the analysis of the texts of Gnostic early Christian apocrypha found in the collection of books «Nag Hammadi library». The texts of the apocrypha explicate the main points of contact between the Gnostic anthropology of the first centuries of Christianity and the fundamental ontology of M. Heidegger. It is shown that such existentials of fundamental ontology as In-der-Welt-sein, Sein-zum-Tode, Angst, Geworfenheit and the concept of the call of being have semantic parallels with Gnostic terminology and display similar Gnostic optics on ontological and anthropological issues. It is revealed the potential of studying Gnosticism as a concept offering an authentic way out of the anthropological crisis by restoring the self through the knowledge of Dasein.

Author Biography

  • Yaraslau A. Kakhavets, Belarusian State University, 4 Niezaliezhnasci Avenue, Minsk 220030, Belarus

    postgraduate student at the department of philosophy of culture, faculty of philosophy and social sciences

     

References

  1. Shapinskaya EN, editor. Postmodernizm i kul’tura [Postmodernism and culture]. Moscow: IFAN; 1991. 137 p. Russian.
  2. Jonas G. Gnostitsizm: gnosticheskaya religiya [Gnosticism: gnostic religion]. Shchukin KA, translator; Sandulov YuA, compiler. Saint Petersburg: Lan’; 1998. 382 p. Russian.
  3. Heidegger M. Vremya i bytie [Time and being]. Bibikhin VV, translator and compiler. Moscow: Respublika; 1993. 447 p. Russian.
  4. Heidegger M. Sein und Zeit. Tubingen: M. Niemeyer; 1967. 437 S.
  5. Afonasin EV, translator. Shkola Valentina: fragmenty i svidetel’stva [School of Valentin: fragments and evidence]. Saint Petersburg: Aleteiya; 2002. 319 р. Russian.
  6. Sidorenko IN. Ideya istorichnosti v filosofii nemetskogo ekzistentsializma [The idea of historicity in the philosophy of German existentialism]. Minsk: National Institute for Higher Education; 2007. 124 р. Russian.

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Published

2024-01-26

Issue

No. 1 (2024): Journal of the Belarusian State University. Philosophy and Psychology

Section

History of Philosophy

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How to Cite

[1]
Kakhavets, Y.A. 2024. Existentials of the gnostic myth on the example of the papyruses of the collection of books «Nag Hammadi library». Journal of the Belarusian State University. Philosophy and Psychology. 1 (Jan. 2024), 23–28.