ABSTRACT
Aesthetics must transcend the realm of the figurative, drawing closer to the realm of the figural. Moving from the figurative to the world of the figural requires that one thematize the synthetic role of sensation. A sensation is that which is transmitted directly without having to tell a story. Sensation is closely related to a field of invisible forces, in such a way that a force exerts itself on a body in order to produce sensation. Early patristic thought contrasted the logic of knowledge to the logic of perception in order to draw the limits of theological knowledge. Chrysostom opposes any claim that God might be fully visible and transparent, or that divine essence might be knowable in its totality, because of the fundamental gap between knowledge and God's being. The dissemination of force manifests a world dominated by lawlessness.
