The book examines the metaphysics and dialectical method of Maximus the Confessor (582-662), one of the most profound and complex Byzantine thinkers. It reconstructs Maximus' conceptual system and the sources of his constructions in the preceding ancient and Christian traditions. It examines the corresponding concepts of Plato, Aristotle, Plotinus, Proclus, as well as the teachings of Christian philosophers: Origen, Gregory of Nyssa and Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite. Many texts have been translated from Greek for the first time.