Les discours de la philosophie dans les milieux chrétiens syriaques (iie-ive s.): formes de l’argumentation et fondements intellectuels

Our knowledge about the diffusion of Greek philosophy into Syriac culture is dependent on Ephrem's heresiological works as well as on the manuscript tradition of philosophical works in Syriac, especially the famous BL Add. 14658. In the contribution the ideological orientations of these sources are described, then some directions are given to a history of the use of Greek philosophy in Syriac culture, starting from the Bible translations, and dealing with Marcion, Odes of Solomon, Bardaisan, and other early Syriac works. At the end, a comparison is offered between the conditions in which the Greek philosophy is received in Alexandria, and those in which it is used in Edessa.