Plato and Jesus, Not Caesar
Metaphysics of Freedom and Tyranny in Younger Europe
Published on 23. October 2025
Book
Hardback
316 pages
978-90-04-73662-7 (ISBN)
Description
This book discusses the influence of ancient and medieval Platonism and Christian Platonism on the modern political concepts and experiences of freedom and tyranny in Central-Eastern Europe. The main claim of the book is that because the nations of Younger Europe were oppressed by the imperialism of Russia, Germany, and Austria, they maintained a stronger connection to the premodern, Christian Platonic tradition. This tradition was experienced as a source of inspiration in the struggle for freedom and independence. The book focuses on the life and work of selected philosophers, poets, and artists, all of whom were both mystics and figures deeply engaged in their nations' fight for freedom.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Leiden
Netherlands
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 155 mm
Thickness: 22 mm
Weight
617 gr
ISBN-13
978-90-04-73662-7 (9789004736627)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Mateusz Strozynski, Ph.D (2007), professor at Adam Mickiewicz University (Poland), has published articles, translations, and monographs on the Platonic tradition, including Adam Mickiewicz, Metaphysical Poems (Brill, 2023; with J. Fiecko and J.S. Boparai) and Plotinus on the Contemplation of the Intelligible World (CUP, 2024).
Content
Contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction: Younger Europe, Freedom and the Image of God
?1?The West, the East, and the In-Between
?2?From Plato and the Scripture to French Newspapers
?3?Every Soul Is a Child of That Father
?4?The Image of God
?5?Children of the Free Woman
?6?Between Two Tyrannies
?7?The Structure of This Book
1 Cherubinic Wanderers (Jan Amos Komensky and Johannes Scheffler)
?1?In the Footsteps of God
?2?Divine Nothingness
?3?Wikipedia or Paideia?
?4?Initium Calamitatis Regni Poloniae
2 The World Couldn't Catch Them (Hasidic Jews and Hrihory Skovoroda)
?1?Between Spinoza and Sabbatai Zevi
?2?The Third Rome
?3?The Messiahs
?4?Alia res sceptrum, alia res plectrum
?5?Living in Holiness
?6?What Is Freedom?
?7?Two Kinds of Tyranny
3 Two Emperors and the Sun of Freedom (Adam Mickiewicz and Alexander Pushkin)
?1?The Russian Experiment with Liberalism
?2?Muscovite Friends
?3?The Statue of Peter I
4 God and Freedom (Adam Mickiewicz and Pyotr Chaadaev)
?1?The Mystic-Politician
?2?Philosophy as Mental Illness
?3?A More Immediate Feeling of God
?4?Living the Divine Life
?5?The Slavs Don't Possess Anything
5 The World of Souls (Vladimir Solovyov and Wincenty Lutoslawski)
?1?Suffused with a Golden Azure
?2?A Possession for Ever
?3?Divine Humanity
?4?I Have Lived on This Earth Before
?5?Theocracy and Panmongolism
6 The Scythians and Their Jesus Christ (Andrei Bely and Alexander Blok)
?1?Two Poets and Divine Wisdom
?2?Christianity as a Mystical Fact
?3?Jesus the Bolshevik
?4?The Poet and the Crowd
?5?Darkness at Noon
7 Life Founded upon Seeing What Is (Wincenty Lutoslawski and Jan Patocka)
?1?Between the Two Wars
?2?A Small Central-European Nation
?3?The Whole Showing
?4?Christianity as the Abysmal Deepening of the Soul
8 What Plato Did for You? (Valentin Tomberg)
?1?Awakening of Deep Soul Forces
?2?The Fall of the Law
?3?The Magician
9 Searching for Truth (Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz and Jozef Czapski)
?1?The Mystery of Existence
?2?A World Entirely Different
?3?Dark Night of the Soul
?4?The Pill of Happiness
?5?Necessity and Grace
?6?The Chains and the Cross
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index
Acknowledgements
Introduction: Younger Europe, Freedom and the Image of God
?1?The West, the East, and the In-Between
?2?From Plato and the Scripture to French Newspapers
?3?Every Soul Is a Child of That Father
?4?The Image of God
?5?Children of the Free Woman
?6?Between Two Tyrannies
?7?The Structure of This Book
1 Cherubinic Wanderers (Jan Amos Komensky and Johannes Scheffler)
?1?In the Footsteps of God
?2?Divine Nothingness
?3?Wikipedia or Paideia?
?4?Initium Calamitatis Regni Poloniae
2 The World Couldn't Catch Them (Hasidic Jews and Hrihory Skovoroda)
?1?Between Spinoza and Sabbatai Zevi
?2?The Third Rome
?3?The Messiahs
?4?Alia res sceptrum, alia res plectrum
?5?Living in Holiness
?6?What Is Freedom?
?7?Two Kinds of Tyranny
3 Two Emperors and the Sun of Freedom (Adam Mickiewicz and Alexander Pushkin)
?1?The Russian Experiment with Liberalism
?2?Muscovite Friends
?3?The Statue of Peter I
4 God and Freedom (Adam Mickiewicz and Pyotr Chaadaev)
?1?The Mystic-Politician
?2?Philosophy as Mental Illness
?3?A More Immediate Feeling of God
?4?Living the Divine Life
?5?The Slavs Don't Possess Anything
5 The World of Souls (Vladimir Solovyov and Wincenty Lutoslawski)
?1?Suffused with a Golden Azure
?2?A Possession for Ever
?3?Divine Humanity
?4?I Have Lived on This Earth Before
?5?Theocracy and Panmongolism
6 The Scythians and Their Jesus Christ (Andrei Bely and Alexander Blok)
?1?Two Poets and Divine Wisdom
?2?Christianity as a Mystical Fact
?3?Jesus the Bolshevik
?4?The Poet and the Crowd
?5?Darkness at Noon
7 Life Founded upon Seeing What Is (Wincenty Lutoslawski and Jan Patocka)
?1?Between the Two Wars
?2?A Small Central-European Nation
?3?The Whole Showing
?4?Christianity as the Abysmal Deepening of the Soul
8 What Plato Did for You? (Valentin Tomberg)
?1?Awakening of Deep Soul Forces
?2?The Fall of the Law
?3?The Magician
9 Searching for Truth (Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz and Jozef Czapski)
?1?The Mystery of Existence
?2?A World Entirely Different
?3?Dark Night of the Soul
?4?The Pill of Happiness
?5?Necessity and Grace
?6?The Chains and the Cross
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index