Greek philosopher Christos Yannaras (1935–2024) is considered to be one of the most controversial Orthodox advocates of the Hellenic heritage of the Orthodox East. Some evaluate his work as a model of intellectual audacity and originality; however, others see it as merely a derivative and secondary paraphrase of the existential philosophy of Martin Heidegger (1889–1976) in an Orthodox key. In some article reviews published on our website, we have already analysed Yannaras’ extreme antagonism towards the history of Western thought. But it would be unfair to ignore another brilliant academic text on this subject by Dr. Vasilios N. Makrides.
Makrides’ article “‘The Barbarian West’: A Form of Orthodox Christian Anti-Western Critique” was published in 2014 in the volume Eastern Orthodox Encounters of Identity and Otherness: Values, Self-Reflection, Dialogue. This study deserves attention for several reasons. In this article, a professor at the University of Erfurt (1) analyses in detail the historical transformation of the concept of barbarian as used by Yannaras to describe the Christian West, (2) draws attention to the philosopher’s more radical rhetoric in the original Greek editions, significantly softened in English translations for Western readers, (3) examines the influence of the Migration Period (c. 300–600 AD) on the further history of relations between the Christian East and West, (4) challenges the Yannaras’ ‘anti-Western obsession’ and exclusivist interpretation of Greek-Byzantine civilisation, and (5) convincingly refutes the Yannaras’ claims to objectivity and impartiality in his view of Western intellectual culture.
In his review of Vasilios Makrides’ article, archpriest Andrii Shymanovych outlined and, in some cases, critically analysed the author’s most valuable ideas. Fr. Andrii’s review is available at this link: https://www.academic-initiative.org.ua/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/13_Makrides_Christianity_and_barbarism.pdf
