„Miarą wszystkich rzeczy jest Bóg”. Platońska zasada w interpretacji Klemensa Aleksandryjskiego

Abstract

The Aristotelian principle of μεσότης, one that postulates to keep “the average measure determined by reason,” was universally approved both theoretically and practically. Any differences in views arose when attempts were made to define how the “average measure” was supposed to be understood and how it should have been marked. This problem had not been solved by the three auxiliary criteria formulated by Clement of Alexandria. They verified the “mean measure” and were the following: criterion of necessity, compatibility with nature, and compatibility with reason. An essential novelty in the doctrine of Clement was that he modified the ideal of μεσότης. The latter encompassed not only the ethical-moral issues, but also the over-all matters belonging to the intellectual and existential spheres. God, the Creator of man, established an order in the whole macro and microcosmos. For that reason, one should expect that the Divine Lawgiver could have determined, in the most perfect and complete manner, the way the proper measure was supposed to be understood. The principles of Divine rules are found in the Revelation broadly understood, i.e. in the Law of the Old and New Testaments, in the commandments, and in the principles given by the Tradition of the Apostolic Church. “The only just measure is one, true God who is always the same and in all things He remains unchanged; He measures and weighs everything with His justice, as it were, on the scales that tip in no direction (protr. 69, 3-4)”.