The last but not least, there is one more subject that should necessarily be mentioned. Synergy is inseparable of energy, any definition or description of it goes in terms of energy, and so its conceptual analysis cannot be complete if it does not include conceptual analysis of energy.
Unfortunately, we are exactly in this situation. In both the theological and anthropological domains there is no concept of “human energy”, although this term is used abundantly (only Divine energy has got a proper conceptual elaboration in Orthodox theology of energies). Classical conceptions of energy by Aristotle and Plotinus do not fit the context of anthropological practices and activities of consciousness, and the term “energies” (or “human energies”, “psychic energies”, etc.) used in this context – in psychology, ascetics, and other discourses – is nothing but conventional name for some reality that successfully resists conceptualization so far[15] . This lacuna is in no way accidental.
Energy, like Being, is a great topos of philosophical reflection; but, in contrast to Being, it was left th out of sight in the Western philosophical tradition. It is only in the 20 c., due to the powerful effort and influence of Heidegger, that the problem of energy comes back to the forefront of philosophical thought as one of its cardinal open problems. As for the paradigm of synergy, it constitutes an ancient and important sub-topos in the great topos of energy. Studies of synergy must be coordinated with the modern advancements in this topos, and the conceptual lacuna in the synergic discourse must be reflected upon thoroughly. Surely, this brief discussion does not exhaust all open problems in the sub-topos of synergy.
As our survey shows, the situation in this sub-topos is in active development, and the ancient paradigm of synergy still has rich heuristic resources. Avoiding the use of the classical essentialist discourse, it is of fully nonclassical nature. Providing a synthesis of concepts and methods of secular and religious discourse, it can contribute to the development of modern postsecularist ideas.
And both these aspects show that it can play an important part in the formation of the new vision of reality that is emerging now.
15
In synergetic anthropology and other anthropological and psychological theories that try to preserve correct and rigorous discourse, one avoids the use of the term “human energies” finding various substitutes and correlates (e.g., katexis in Freud’s works); synergetic anthropology uses “anthropological manifestations” as the basic term.