A construção de uma ciência teológica em Aristóteles

Abstract

The present study proposes to understand how Aristotle constructs theological science (ἐπιστήμη θεολογική), specifying its place in Aristotelian philosophy and the path visible in the theological investigations conducted. Situated at the nexus of the metaphysical project, theological science must be understood based on the Aristotelian discourse dedicated to it, even amidst the persistence of philosophical impasses. It is linked to the highest object, being first among the sciences and therefore possessing a central role of structuring synthesis for knowledge. On the one hand, theological investigations have dialectics (διαλεκτική) as a method and, in Aristotle's methodological specificity, the preservation of appearances (φαινόμενα) is what guarantees the validity of the result. From this method, one can reach the intelligence (νοῦς) of the principles. On the other hand, theological writings evidence the protreptic (προτροπή) intention of the developed notions. The protreptic points to the formative and pedagogical character, harmonizing with the need for education (παιδεία) for the intelligence (νοῦς) of the principles. In the final step of the research, an expanded methodological scope becomes necessary to perceive the function of the mythical in theological science. It is noted that the mythopoetic tradition transmits basic notions of culture and language that must be preserved as part of the accumulated human experience. And, with the Kierkegaardian concept of the figurative, it is possible to reach the meaning that the use of the mythical possesses when utilized in theological investigations alongside philosophical discourse. Myth (μῦθος) possesses a formative capacity, being both an anticipation of and an invitation to theological science insofar as it brings man closer to the understanding of the first unmoved mover as a principle.