In Plato and Aristotle. On the question of the sources of sophiology

The article is an expanded version of the report “ΣΟΦΙΑ in Plato and Aristotle (Can One See the Origins of Russian Sophiology There?)”, Made by the author at the scholarly seminar of the Department of Theology of St. Petersburg Theological Academy on October 23, 2019. In Plato, σοφία is often found in a common sense (sophia is the wisdom of a demiurge, politician, thinker), which is explained by the cultural background of the characters in the dialogues, who are most often either sophists or seekers of sophia. In a strictly philosophical sense, he often uses “σοφία”, “φρόνησις” and “νοῦς” as synonyms. Σοφία turns out to be the first of the virtues corresponding to the rational part of the soul in a person (λογιστικόν), and the estate of philosophers-rulers in Plato's ideal state. In Aristotle, the words “φρόνησις” and “σοφία” are used synonymously in Protreptics; in Nicomachean Ethics a strict semantic distinction emerges between them: Σοφία becomes the science of what is most valuable, and refers to the epistemic (ἐπιστημονικόν) part of “τὸ λόγον ἔχον” (the intelligent ability of the soul). In Metaphysics σοφία turns out to be the science of the first causes and principles and is identified with the first philosophy, becoming theology. Both thinkers agree that σοφία belongs to the realm of the divine, therefore, the difference in understanding the nature and essence of wisdom depends on different ideas about the ultimate foundations of being. In Plato and Aristotle, σοφία is not personified, therefore the sources of later sophiological speculations should be sought in the Jewish literature of wisdom, as well as in the mystical-esoteric currents of the turn of the eras.