Gifted beggars in the Metaxu: A study of the Platonic and Augustinian resonances of porosity in "God and the Between"
Publication Details
Köhler Ryan, R.
(2012).
Gifted beggars in the Metaxu: A study of the Platonic and Augustinian resonances of porosity in "God and the Between".
Louvain Studies, 36 (2-3), 256-281.
Abstract
This essay explores William Desmond’s concept of porosity, especially as developed in God and the Between. The author analyses Desmond’s imagery of the clogging and unclogging of pores in relation to the ability to sense signs of the transcendent, and thus one’s givenness, in the between. The origins of Desmond’s concept of porosity in Plato’s Symposium are then explored, particularly the significance of the dual parentage of Eros (Poros and Penia) in the myth of Diotima. Finally, Desmond’s understanding of porosity is related to St. Augustine’s philosophy of prayer. In conclusion, the significance of the relation between thought and prayer for Desmond is discussed which, through humility, allows one to partake in the agapeic nourishment by the divine.
Keywords
William Desmond, porosity, Plato, eros, Diotima, St Augustine, prayer
