THE ONE BEYOND SILENCE: THE APOPHATIC HENOLOGY OF PROCLUS

Abstract

For Proclus, negations are truer than assertions (In Platonis Parmenidem 70k), but for a negation to be issued, there must be a name that is denied. But if names are left out, then the negatives are no longer possible. All those aspects of the negation which lead us to discern the transcendent power are now found inapplicable. The negation of negation is the one that introduces us in the appropriate state of silence. The theme of silence is extremely important within the Proclean view of union with the One and it is reached only after intense striving and intellectual effort. The entire dialectical method, even if it operates by way of negations, is nothing but a preamble to the mystical union, removing whatever impedes the contemplation of the One. While the soul cannot know the One, it can attain likeness to the One, experiencing its unity: the way of negation is the precondition for this, purifying the soul for the inflow of divine inspiration. The silence points beyond itself to the One who is beyond all silence.