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Syracuse University SURFACE Religion - Dissertations College of Arts and Sciences 6-2012 The Immanent Body: A Thematic Study of the Logic of Immanence in Christology, Philosophy and Aesthetics Francis J. Sanzaro III Syracuse University Follow this and additional works at: https://surface.edu/rel_etd Part of the Religion Commons Recommended Citation Sanzaro, Francis J. III, "The Immanent Body: A Thematic Study of the Logic of Immanence in Christology, Philosophy and Aesthetics" (2012).edu/rel_etd/85 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the College of Arts and Sciences at SURFACE. It has been accepted for inclusion in Religion - Dissertations by an authorized administrator of SURFACE.

For more information, please contact surface@syr. Abstract This dissertation is comprised of two sections: 1) “The Immanent Body in Late Antiquity”: an analysis of late ancient christology, Stoicism and philosophy; 2) “The Extended Body: Aesthetics”: depictions of monastic bodies in late medieval, Renaissance and contemporary art. The thesis of this dissertation can be stated as follows: the conditions under which immanence is thinkable in relation to bodies are found in conceptual personae. Contemporary philosopher Gilles Deleuze’s concept of conceptual personae, developed in conjunction with French theorist Felix Guattari, helps navigate the complex relationship between bodies and ontology developed by these three ancient thinkers.

In order to understand the formation of the conceptual persona of Christ in late antiquity, it was necessary to return to the work of Irenaeus, Tertullian, and Athanasius. The second part of the project begins with the Antony Series, which is a cluster of Renaissance works of art designated by a common theme. They represent St. Antony, who, being the first deep desert monastic, was the subject of my previous chapters.

Therefore, the link between late antique conceptions of the monastic body and Renaissance art becomes explicit. Early Renaissance artists turned to an aesthetics of the monastic body in order to revolutionize painting, for it was during the late thirteenth century that expressive bodies were being created, bodies that would move painting towards the Renaissance. This dissertation analyzes the precise point of this transition through a christological (i., monastic) understanding of the painted figure. THE IMMANENT BODY: A THEMATIC STUDY OF THE LOGIC OF IMMANENCE IN CHRISTOLOGY, PHILOSOPHY AND AESTHETICS By Francis J.

Colorado State University 2001 M., Philosophy, University of Denver 2005 M., Religious Studies, University of Denver 2005 M. Syracuse University 2008 DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Religion in the Graduate School of Syracuse University June 2012 Copyright 2012 Francis J. Sanzaro III All rights reserved. Acknowledgements This text would not exist without the support of my committee.

A book is always the product of many difference experiences, and Jack Caputo not only advised this dissertation, but influenced the manner in which I explored the topic. The strategy of innovation within classical modalities of scholarship I owe to Caputo’s guidance, pedagogy and steering. One could not ask for a better advisor, friend or intellectual confidant. An acute thinker across numerous disciplines, Gail Hamner’s willingness to follow a thought wherever it goes, and her eagerness to work alongside students in making theoretical connections, both in a seminar setting and informally, will forever exert a lasting influence not only on how I address ideas in theoretical works but also the manner in which I address the classroom.

To Carl Raschke I owe my deepest thanks for introducing me not only to the spirit of contemporary philosophy, but what it takes to think in this discipline. As the person who first put French philosophy in front of me, I am very fortunate to have had Carl’s friendship and support across the entirety of my graduate career. Patricia Cox Miller has been a profound influence on the ideas and trajectories of thought found here. Her work in antiquity introduced me to entire discourses, and just as important, she taught me how to theoretically and practically navigate writing about late antiquity, which comprises more than half of this dissertation.

Without my exposure to her writings on the ascetic body, and without her having me read Life of Antony for a comprehensive exam I fear iv this dissertation may have taken an entirely different course. Zachary Braiterman’s work in contemporary thought and aesthetics provided a crucial link between my interest in art, the body and philosophy. Zak’s insistence on the aesthetics of thought and the materiality of the image has undeniably played a crucial role in how bodies, especially the figure of Christ, have been conceived in this dissertation. Lastly, to my wife Christy, whose patience and companionship have literally held me together at times, I owe more thanks than is possible to put in words.

The same goes to my parents—they know how much their support has meant to me. And to Amelia, my daughter, who has put everything in perspective. v Table of Contents Abstract i Title Page ii Copyright Page iii Acknowledgements iv Figures vii Preface 1 Introduction: Creation, Christ and the Body of Frankenstein 8 Part I. The Immanent Body in Late Antiquity 28 Chapter 1 – Conceptual Personae 29 Chapter 2 – Flesh, Body, Earth: Tertullian 63 Chapter 3 – The Whole and the Part: Athanasius’ 104 Ontological Movement in On the Incarnation Chapter 4 – Body Parts: From Recapitulated Body to Immanent Body 141 Part II.

The Extended Body: Aesthetics 207 An Introduction to Renaissance Aesthetics 208 Chapter 5 – Christological Aesthetics: The Antony Series 216 Chapter 6 – Istoria: Da Vinci’s Renaissance Bodies 281 Chapter 7 – Conclusion: Body and Concept 342 Bibliography 389 Vitae 399 vi Figures: 1 - Martin Schongauer. The Temptation of St. Stigmatization of St. Francis, Bardi Chapel, Florence, 1319-28.

3 - Catalogue cover for the Bel Ami International Competition. 5 - Video still from one Hermann Nitsch’s 1960’s blood rituals, which were part of the Orgien Mysterien Theater. 6 - Photo of Hermann Nitsch by Sven Eisermann. 7 - Photograph of dancer Amanda Wooden.

Photo by Jordan Matter, 2012. 8 - Discobolus of Myron. Roman marble copy of a fifth century Greek bronze. 9 - Detail from Grunewald’s Isenheim Altarpiece.

Antony is central and in Blue. Photo, Art Resource, NY. The Temptation of St. The Temptation of St.

The Temptation of St. The Temptation of St. The Temptation of St. Martin Schongauer, Saint Anthony Tormented by Demons, ca.

Photo courtesy of the British Museum. Temptations of St. 17 - Joos Van Craesbeeck. The Many Temptations of St.

Bardi Chapel, Florence. Santa Maria Novella, Florence. Tempera on Panel, 1300. Crucifix, 1270’s, San Domenico, Arezzo.

21 - Lucas Cranach the Elder. The Temptation of St. The Temptation of St. 23 - Stefano de Giovanni.

Antony the Hermit Tortured by the Devils, 1423. Michael’s Fight Against the Dragon, 1498. 25 - John Charles Dollman. The Temptations of St.

The Temptation of St. The Temptation of St. Oil on canvas. Baptism of Christ.

The Massacre of the Innocents. School of Athens, 1510-15. Rome, Vatican City. Self-Portrait with Beret and Turned up Collar, 1659.

The Star, Dancer on Stage. Detail of the Last Supper, 1986. Be Somebody with a Body, 1985. Betrayal of Christ, Arena Chapel, 1304-6.

37 - Duccio di Buoninsegna’s The Betrayal by Judas. Tempera on wood panel. Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, 1907. Thesis The thesis of this dissertation can be stated as follows: the conditions under which immanence is thinkable in relation to bodies are found in conceptual personae.

The thesis is philosophical, but has historical consequences. This philosophical thesis has as its application late antique christology. As a concept developed by Deleuze and Guattari in their last collaborative work, a conceptual persona is the image philosophical thought presupposes before it begins to philosophize. Conceptual personae are neither historical nor psychosocial types, but the image thought presupposes.1 Conceptual personae provide movement and style to philosophy, and ought to be conceived as virtual landscapes guiding the trajectories of concepts.

The historical consequence of this thesis is that the development of late antique orthodox thinking gave birth not only to strong theories of transcendence and episcopal hierarchy, as it is usually thought, but also to immanent bodies. The articulation of these politically charged bodies, and the analysis of their relation to the ontologies supporting them, remains relevant to contemporary continental thought as this genre of thinking continues to interrogate the relation between ontology and bodies, thinking and practice. 1 Deleuze and Guattari, What is Philosophy? (New York: Columbia Press, 1994), p. 2 Aristotle’s simple definition of immanent causality—the quality of an action that begins and ends inside an agent—as it has been adapted and applied by Deleuze in his interpretation of Spinoza, has been employed here to specify the meaning of immanence.2 Deleuze defines “immanence” by differentiating it from “emanation,” where the One produces effects that remains outside itself (as in the Neo-Platonism of Plotinus), while immanent causality is defined by an ontology whose effects remain within (immanent) to the cause and do not fall outside it (as in the God of Spinoza).

In ancient and medieval thought, Aristotle’s definition was used to justify transcendence, since the more immanent the life of a being (for example, Aristotle’s self-thinking thought), the more perfect it is. That is why the thinkers addressed here—Irenaeus, Tertullian, Athanasius—are not philosophers of immanence who reject transcendence. In a manner that parallels Deleuze’s use of Aristotle’s definition in respect to Spinoza, I am using it in christology to justify God’s immanence in the world. As the first immanent body within the Christian tradition, the immanent causality of the mystical body of Christ is used by these three thinkers to collapse the distinction between transcendence and immanence, a loss of distinction marked by the theology of the incarnation.

For Athanasius's “christic metaphysics,” Christ is literally the “cosmos” and “all of existence.” The acts of Christ had cosmological significance, and it was only through this conception of Christ's immanent activity that an incarnate God was thinkable, a God that was active in the world. All of Christ's action begin and end in his mystical body, and God is the other name of this immanent action. The immanent causality of Christ—the conceptual persona—makes an immanent transcendence thinkable, and yet, historically speaking, the persona of Christ has consequences beyond the reach of 2 See chapter one, section titled “Two Problems.3 Here the task is different in thinking the conditions of immanence as they relate to bodies. This study therefore uses a philosophical theory to argue for the historical existence of what has been termed immanent bodies.

The existence of these types of bodies within history confirm the philosophical theory that conceptual personae provide the conditions in which immanence is thinkable in relation to bodies. A body is an immanent body when its actions are understood to have immediate effects within the “cosmos.” The body of Christ is immanent because its effects are contained within his body. Ascetic bodies are immanent within the body of Christ because everything they do remains within his body as its effects, modes or attributes. Though Deleuze and Guattari’s notion of conceptual personae form the analytical structure of this analysis, this text does make immanence an attribute of bodies.

Immanence does not belong to these bodies in the sense of possession, as if immanence were a noun. Since Deleuze would also use the category of immanent causality in order to identify philosophies of immanence, this text has rather spoken of immanent causality and not ventured into further defining immanence itself.4 Bodies are considered to be immanent bodies when their acts are said to have immanent causality within the cosmic body of Christ, and the acts and effects are immanent because their bodies are likewise considered to be the cosmos itself. The immanent body is a literal embodiment of the cosmic Christ body. 3 In Difference and Repetition, Deleuze conducted a similar analysis of thought’s presuppositions when he distilled the eight postulates of the image of philosophical thinking.

See chapter three of Difference and Repetition, titled “The Image of Thought.