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On a constant basis, church-state relations are a prominent topic in the Greek news. Currently, the new leader of the main opposition party repeatedly emphasizes that he strives to advance "church-state separation." As far as the desiderata for constitutional reform are concerned, relevant discussions usually centre on Article 3 para. 1 of the Greek Constitution (cited as "Article 3," but usually referring particularly to Article 3 para. 1), which defines the Orthodox Church as "the prevailing religion in Greece". Often, yet to a lesser extent, debates focus on Article 16 para. 2, which lists "the development of [...] religious consciousness" as one of the goals of school education. Still rarer, the debates cite Article 105 dealing with the monastic communities of Mount Athos. Surprisingly, Article 3 para. 3 of the Greek Constitution is barely ever brought up in the debates. Yet, precisely this paragraph could – rather uncontroversially – be labelled as utterly peculiar and, above that, obsolete.

This volume initiates an inquiry into the relationship between Ludwig Wittgenstein's "analytic stance" towards philosophy and the inherently apophatic nature of his epistemology, a subject that has been repeatedly hinted at, but hitherto never thoroughly researched through this particular hermeneutical lens. In using the term "apophaticism," the book is not merely referring to the theological "via negativa" or to tendencies towards mysticism, but rather to a comprehensive epistemological stance that "refuses to identify truth with its formulation and to identify the understanding of the signifier with the knowledge of its signified reality," to use Christos Yannaras' definition. The question of whether Ludwig Wittgenstein's work can be approached as a particularly efflorescent case of the implementation of an implicitly (and at times explicitly) apophatic epistemology is herewith addressed. As such, this volume contends that such an approach would not merely provide elucidations on apophatic epistemologies, but rather shed potentially valuable hermeneutical light on Wittgenstein's work, functioning as an epistemological thread running through it. Consequently, the focal points here consist of questions concerning knowledge and its disclosure, ineffability, non-discursivity, the function of language, the limits of one's language as the limits of one's world, and the language of religion, among others. In addition, the volume's contribution to shedding more light on the apophatic aspects of Ludwig Wittgenstein's philosophy is enhanced by its inclusion of a broad spectrum of different approaches, with contributors ranging from Wittgenstein scholars to Patristics scholars-and beyond

Maximus the Confessor?s Ambiguum 41 contains some rather atypical
observations concerning the distinction of sexes in the human person. There
is a certain ambiguity as to whether the distinction of the sexes was
intended by God and is ?by nature? (as found in Genesis and asserted by most
Church Fathers) or a product of the Fall. Namely, Christ is described three
times as ?shaking out of nature the distinctive characteristics of male and
female?, ?driving out of nature the difference and division of male and
female? and ?removing the difference between male and female?. Different
readings of those passages engender important implications that can be drawn
out from the Confessor?s thought, both eschatological implications and
otherwise. The subject has been picked up by Cameron Partridge, Doru
Costache and Karolina Kochanczyk-Boninska, among others, but is by no means
settled, as they draw quite different conclusions. The noteworthy and
far-reaching implications of Maximus? theological stance and problems are
not the object of this paper. In a 2017 paper I attempted to demonstrate
what Maximus exactly says in these peculiar and oft-commented passages
through a close reading, in order to avoid a two-edged Maximian
misunderstanding: to either draw overly radical implications from those
passages, projecting decidedly non-Maximian visions on the historical
Maximus, or none at all, as if those passages represented standard Patristic
positions. Here, I am revisiting this argument, given that the interest in
what the Confessor has to say on the subject seems to be increasing.

RESEARCH OBJECTIVE: This paper studies the prevalence, pre-eminence, premises and political usage of the "cultural dualism" narrative in contemporary Greece, which is predominantly attributed to Nikiforos Diamandouros.THE RESEARCH PROBLEM AND METHODS: The "cultural dualism" ("underdog culture") reading of Modern Greece divides Greek society and political life into an "underdog" Orthodox conservative culture and a "reformist" Western secular culture, thus forming a Neo-orientalist schematization. The paper traces and analyses instances of this dichotomy (particularly instances in which it is presented as self-evident, a given) in Greek academia, journalism and political discourse.THE PROCESS OF ARGUMENTATION: This "underdog culture" narrative, broadly understood, is here identified as the implicit hermeneutic approach almost universally employed when studying non-standard political and cultural thought in Greece: other forms thereof comprise the dichotomies of "normal/ non-biased" versus "anti-Western," "European" versus "national-populist," "secular" versus "religious/Byzantine/Orthodox" etc. I proceed to analyse those and propose the term "Greek Neo-orientalism" for their categorization.RESEARCH RESULTS: In the paper, the prevalence of Diamandourean "underdog culture" reading in the Greek public sphere – academic as well as political and journalistic – is demonstrated, concluding that a non-Neo-orientalist reading of contemporary Greek political thought and theory is yet to appear.CONCLUSIONS, INNOVATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: The paper underscores the need for an alternative research agenda that would for the first time examine non-standard Greek political thought that affirms Greece's Byzantine past and Orthodox culture not via the Neo-orientalist approach, but through a methodology suitable to that end.