 Eriugena’s anthropology is based on Maximus’ insight that the human being is a synthesis of all aspects of creation, as he says, the “workshop of creation“ (officina omnium) and as such plays a crucial role in unifying creation through proper knowledge; the entire dialogue of the Periphyseon could be seen as a spiritual exercise (exercitatio animi) of training through the liberal arts in order to attain the level of intellectual knowledge; the goal of exercitatio is to contemplate nature in the right way in order to repair the fragmentation of creation by achieving a unified vision and thus realize the return of all things to their divine source. The human being as officina omnium plays a central role in the process of return (reditus) because as a primordial idea in the divine mind, it can mediate between the primordial causes and the created effects. However, only through the incarnation (in which Christ assumes human nature in its totality), can the full, cosmic scope of this process of mediation and unification through the human being as officina omnium be realized: through the incarnation of Christ the Logos, the universal human nature and through it the rest of creation is unified, redeemed and ultimately divinized. [see also  section 3.9 Human Nature]