Being beyond Words: Some Apophatic Approaches before Plotinus

Abstract

The article briefly examines the reluctance to name reality perceived as superior to the profane one, be it considered a sacred realm, overwhelming divinity, or God’s being beyond man’s capabilities of comprehension and definition. It offers a short account of the issue of difficulty or impossibility to name Being itself, the highest reality, God, in the stances of Plato from three of his dialogues, chosen parts from several works by Philo of Alexandria, and a passage from Basilides. It briefly explores the problems of naming the gods, the impossibility of knowing and defining God, and the need for ineffability and not-even-ineffability of Being.