The psychology of Evagrius Ponticus: the path of práxis

Abstract

The writings of Evagrius Ponticus, a monk of the 4th century, although not a philosophical system, are important for the development of western culture and its understanding. Nevertheless, in this paper we make a different epistemological approach. In his work, the Praktikos (or The Practical Treatise), the first part of a trilogy of spiritual theology, we look for elements of a psychological doctrine. With that, we believe, he intends to demonstrate a therapeutic practice. Thus, we explored some fundamental concepts of this work, such as impassibility (apatheía), passional thoughts (logismoí), passions (páthos), and other important doctrines. Furthermore, we explore the idea of tripartite division of the soul and evagrian demonology as well (where demons, in our view, represent unconscious faces of desire).