Saved by Philosophy? 15th-Century Disputes about the Usefulness of Philosophy for the Salvation of Byzantium

One group of late Byzantine scholars argued that the promotion of Hellenitas rather than Romanitas should be grounded in the intensive study of ancient Greek philosophy and intellectual culture. They aspired to revive the glory of ancient Greece through the appropriation of its philosophical heritage. According to another group of scholars, however, the solution lay in the gradual Latinization of Byzantine philosophical thought. They turned to the Latin philosophical tradition for inspiration, translating and commenting on medieval Scholastic texts. In their view, the ancient Greek philosophical heritage had reached a higher stage of development in medieval Western Europe, and the Byzantines could benefit from these intellectual advances. A third group, by contrast, maintained that the Byzantine intellectual tradition—as an amalgam of Greek, Roman, and Christian elements—was itself sufficient to strengthen society and the state against external threats. Consequently, they opposed both the Hellenization and the Latinization of Byzantine philosophy, fearing that the alienation of Byzantine culture posed an even greater danger than the subjugation of the empire and the genos. This paper examines these competing intellectual positions and assesses their implications for late Byzantine philosophy, culture, and politics.