Zachary Ugolnik is a scholar and writer specializing in interdisciplinary approaches to life’s biggest questions. He currently works in philanthropy at the intersection of the social sciences, philosophy, and theological studies. He earned his master’s from Harvard University and his PhD from Columbia University’s religion department. He has co-edited and authored scholarly articles in outlets such as Dædalus, The Journal of Religion, Religion & Literature, and Harvard Divinity Bulletin.

• Transcending Frames: An Introduction 11 The Collective Self 222 Talking: The Odes of Solomon, the "Hymn of the Pearl," and the "Hymn of Christ" 443 Seeing: "Tesseracts," Spheres, and Sapphires in Plotinus and Evagrius 634 Reading: Textual Bodies in Athanasius and the Liturgical Tradition 875 Thinking: Synesthesia and the Luminous "I" in Ephrem and the Later Syriac Tradition 1136 Praying: Human-Divine Reflexivity in John of Dalyatha and the Medieval Middle East 140Epilogue 166Acknowledgments 179Notes 181Index 219

"The Collective Self offers a compelling account of mirror imagery as a mode of self-understanding. Ugolnik shows how reflections blur the boundaries between self, other, and divine, challenging the assumption that collective or fragmented subjectivity is a modern development. By reading mirrored language as the site of a gaze that is neither simply interior nor exterior, Ugolnik reframes how we think about communion, empathy, and divine encounter. This book makes a rigorous and original contribution to the intellectual history of the self and to ongoing conversations about vision, relationality, and theological anthropology." - Emily R. Cain, Loyola University Chicago

Zachary Ugolnik is a scholar and writer specializing in interdisciplinary approaches to life’s biggest questions. He currently works in philanthropy at the intersection of the social sciences, philosophy, and theological studies. He earned his master’s from Harvard University and his PhD from Columbia University’s religion department. He has co-edited and authored scholarly articles in outlets such as Dædalus, The Journal of Religion, Religion & Literature, and Harvard Divinity Bulletin.

• Transcending Frames: An Introduction 11 The Collective Self 222 Talking: The Odes of Solomon, the "Hymn of the Pearl," and the "Hymn of Christ" 443 Seeing: "Tesseracts," Spheres, and Sapphires in Plotinus and Evagrius 634 Reading: Textual Bodies in Athanasius and the Liturgical Tradition 875 Thinking: Synesthesia and the Luminous "I" in Ephrem and the Later Syriac Tradition 1136 Praying: Human-Divine Reflexivity in John of Dalyatha and the Medieval Middle East 140Epilogue 166Acknowledgments 179Notes 181Index 219

"The Collective Self offers a compelling account of mirror imagery as a mode of self-understanding. Ugolnik shows how reflections blur the boundaries between self, other, and divine, challenging the assumption that collective or fragmented subjectivity is a modern development. By reading mirrored language as the site of a gaze that is neither simply interior nor exterior, Ugolnik reframes how we think about communion, empathy, and divine encounter. This book makes a rigorous and original contribution to the intellectual history of the self and to ongoing conversations about vision, relationality, and theological anthropology." - Emily R. Cain, Loyola University Chicago

Zachary Ugolnik is a scholar and writer specializing in interdisciplinary approaches to life’s biggest questions. He currently works in philanthropy at the intersection of the social sciences, philosophy, and theological studies. He earned his master’s from Harvard University and his PhD from Columbia University’s religion department. He has co-edited and authored scholarly articles in outlets such as Dædalus, The Journal of Religion, Religion & Literature, and Harvard Divinity Bulletin.

• Transcending Frames: An Introduction 11 The Collective Self 222 Talking: The Odes of Solomon, the "Hymn of the Pearl," and the "Hymn of Christ" 443 Seeing: "Tesseracts," Spheres, and Sapphires in Plotinus and Evagrius 634 Reading: Textual Bodies in Athanasius and the Liturgical Tradition 875 Thinking: Synesthesia and the Luminous "I" in Ephrem and the Later Syriac Tradition 1136 Praying: Human-Divine Reflexivity in John of Dalyatha and the Medieval Middle East 140Epilogue 166Acknowledgments 179Notes 181Index 219

"The Collective Self offers a compelling account of mirror imagery as a mode of self-understanding. Ugolnik shows how reflections blur the boundaries between self, other, and divine, challenging the assumption that collective or fragmented subjectivity is a modern development. By reading mirrored language as the site of a gaze that is neither simply interior nor exterior, Ugolnik reframes how we think about communion, empathy, and divine encounter. This book makes a rigorous and original contribution to the intellectual history of the self and to ongoing conversations about vision, relationality, and theological anthropology." - Emily R. Cain, Loyola University Chicago