Nicholas of Cusa (1401-1464), a student of canon law who became a Catholic cardinal, was widely considered the most important original philosopher of the Renaissance. He wrote principally on theology, philosophy, and church politics. This volume makes most of Nicholas's other writings on Church and reform available in English for the first time.

[826 pages] Nicolaus Cusanus und Wáng Yángmíng philosophieren an der Grenze möglichen Denkens. Die Komparatistik der basalen Problemhorizonte und Kernthemen ihrer epochalen Reflexionen weist auf die Unterschiede beider Philosophiekulturen hin. Als wichtige Vordenker der Moderne entwickeln beide jeweils eine umfassende Logik der Selbsterschließung. Dabei werden unabhängig voneinander acht komparable Problemhorizonte ersichtlich: umfassende Kreativität, menschliche Selbstreflexivität, die Unsagbarkeit des Grundes der Sprache, Möglichkeiten und Grenzen des Wissens, Selbstperfektion, Gewissen, Moralität und Liebe. Mittels einer innovativen Reflexionsbegrifflichkeit werden zentrale Paradigmen, Begriffe und (...) Metaphern beider Denker umfassend analysiert, erstmals aufeinander abgebildet und beispielhaft erschlossen. [Nicolaus de Cusa and Wáng Yángmíng philosophize at the limit of possible thought. The comparative study of the fundamental problem horizons and core themes of their epochal philosophies points to the differences between the two philosophical cultures. As important pioneers of modernity, both develop a comprehensive logic of self-development. In the process, eight independently comparable problem horizons emerge: comprehensive creativity, human self-reflexivity, the ineffability concerning the foundation of language, the possibilities and limits of knowledge, self-perfection, conscience, morality, and love. Using an innovative terminology, central paradigms, concepts, and metaphors of both philosophies are comprehensively analyzed, mapped onto each other for the first time, and made accessible in an exemplary manner.]. (shrink)

The idea has been largely studied in its categorial aspect, but hardly in its metaphysical onto-theological constitution. This is, nevertheless, the point of González´s “Metaphysical relation between finite and infinite by Nicolaus of Cusa”. The basic assumptions are: 1) There is a disproportion between finite and infinite; 2) As a consequence of it, the relation between immanence and transcendence appears; 3) The operational relationship between finite and infinite is the creation, which is necessarily asymmetric. Besides, the Cusano´s vision (...) of the relation finite-infinite can be applied to the human being -holds up González, together with Polo-, and shows that human person is a relation to the origin. The notion of relation is analogous. But, whether the Cusano´s philosophy allows maintaining this thesis is dubious. (shrink)

In this paper is studied the relationship between finite and infinite, creator and creature, in the metaphysics of Nicolaus of Cues; with this aim, the Cusano texts dealing with the transcendence of the Absolute´s infinity are highlighted, as well as the texts dealing with the inmanence of the finite in the Infinite. On the other hand, the relations of inmanence and transcendence, of finite and infinite, are made explicite through three kinds of affirmations or metaphores of Cusa: a) (...) The Absolute as Non aliud of the finite; b) The correlativity of the finite and infinite looks; c) Infinite intellect and human mind: relation as image. The paper finishes pointing out the impossibility of a reciprocal relation between finite and infinite, and emphasizing that the speculative horizon should be aimed at an analogy of the relation. (shrink)

Concerning Nicolaus Cusanus’ (Nicholas of Cusa, 1401–1464) mysticism of the intellect, his approach to the problem of ineffability deserves the special attention of researchers. Preceded by a general exposition on the topic of the inconceivability of the experience of the foundational autopoietic self-reference of thinking and speaking, this article shows how Nicolaus Cusanus has developed a complex approach to the problem of an “ineffable way of speaking” (ineffable fari). Cusanus developed a set of approaches to non-negatable cataphatic (...) “pointing rods” (Max Scheler) and apophatic ways of thinking about what is to be understood as ineffable in the sense of a philosophical form of mysticism. Both are still inspiring and highly relevant for the discussion today. In terms of the overall interior development of his philosophical way of “eloquent silence” (German: beredtes Schweigen), it is notable that Cusanus eventually referred to both ways of affirmative and negative theology in their dialectic interdependence. Eventually, he found increasingly simple ways to point the way towards the “likeness of the path along which the seeker must walk.” In his later works, Cusanus developed a unique understanding of the problem of ineffability about philosophical mysticism, the potential of which remains to be explored further in the future. (shrink)

The mirror metaphor has been an essential asset especially during the pre-modern history of philosophy. The present article is concerned with its use in the philosophy of the German thinker Nicolas of Cusa (1401-1464). Being rooted in the intellectual traditions of Greek antiquity and Medieval Christian philosophy, Nicolas of Cusa has also been hailed as one of the first modern European philosophers. Long before other occidental thinkers, Nicolas of Cusa used the mirror metaphor to describe the foundational (...) logic of self-consciousness on his own terms and in the context of his time and his cultural environment. This article presents the most important passages where Nicolas of Cusa uses the images of the mirror and of mirroring to explain the creative self-relation of consciousness as well as to hint at a way of a transformation of the common forms of reflexivity of the epistemological functions of the mind into its complete form of existence as absolute self-consciousness. In this context, Nicolas of Cusa’s use of the mirror metaphor is also concerned with the question of an all-encompassing humanistic self-perfection, practice as well as with basic anthropological considerations. (shrink)

Richard Falckenberg (1851-1920) in his book Grundzüge der Philosophie des Nicolaus Cusanus mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der Lehre vom Erkennen was among the first historians of philosophy to support the argument that Nicholas of Cusa was a modern philosopher because his innovative theory of knowledge. The Falckenberg's celebrity shall be reduced because he was later obscured by the most famous historians of philosophy as Ernst Cassirer and Joachim Ritter. In our paper we want to come back to the Falckenberg's (...) book and recover his main arguments about the proximity of Cusanus with the philosophies of Leibniz, Fichte and the positivists. (shrink)

In the late Middle Ages, Nicholas of Cusa renders human cognition as creative, asymptotic assimilation—humans creatively approach their objects of cognition without ever fully reaching them. Questions about measuring are an important part of Nicholas’ model of cognition in two regards: On the one hand, he explicitly calls human cognition a ‘measuring’, moving the concept into the centre of attention. On the other hand, measuring in the sense of evaluating epistemic activities is an issue for Nicholas. He describes humans (...) as living images of god who ‘enfold’ the ideas of all things within themselves in a specific way. They measure, i. e. judge, their epistemic activities looking at what they enfold. However, Nicholas provides little information about what exactly that means. He is thus threatened with a serious epistemological problem: the lack of a satisfying criterion of epistemic activities. In my paper, I discuss options of how to deal with this problem. After briefly describing Nicholas’ notion of human cognition and what he has on offer regarding a criterion of epistemic activities, I try to clarify what ‘enfolding the ideas of all things’ can mean. Presenting and discussing two plausible interpretations of this expression—a static and a dynamic one—sheds light on possible answers Nicholas can give as well as the limitations these answers are confronted with. (shrink)

As a neoplatonic philosopher for whom the intellect alone connects man with God, Nicholas of Cusa has without doubt a critical attitude towards the affective and emotional constitution of man. Accordingly, the deification of man is only imaginable as an interior quiet of all passions. But in analyzing his texts we can see that Nicholas, in order to describe the status of intellectual perfection, does not neglect affective and emotional categories and concepts. Not only the etymological deduction of sapientia (...) as a tasting and delicious science, but also his speaking of gaudium intellectuale und dulcedo intellectualis paints a different picture. (shrink)

This article reconstructs the postmodern debate initiated by Heidegger about the possibility of a creationist metaphysics that could overcome the last impassable difference between «being» and the corresponding «being of entities», in the manner proposed by Inciarte-Llano and Johannes Hoff. Both defend the proposal synthesis made by Nicholas of Cusa between the Thomist and Scotist positions on the metaphysics of creation, on behalf of a principle of either plenitude or analogy. In this regard, both proposals are internally complementary, but (...) are made from very different presuppositions. (shrink)

O presente artigo ocupa-se em refletir sobre os fundamentos da paz entre as religiões presentes no De pace fidei de Nicolau de Cusa. O artigo se divide em cinco momentos onde tentamos partir da contextualização que motivou a escrita da obra até seus desdobramentos filosóficos, políticos e culturais que ocultam/revelam o problema da relação unidade e diversidade. Palavras-chave: Paz. Fé. Ritos. Unidade. Diversidade.

O presente artigo tem por objetivo expor o debate acerca do dinamismo da busca pela verdade absoluta (Deus) a partir da filosofia de Nicolau de Cusa (1401-1464). Mais que pensar sobre a existência ou não de Deus, tema recorrente e central na Filosofia da Idade Média, o filósofo alemão encontrava-se preocupado com a possibilidade do seu conhecimento. Portanto, nesse texto, nosso esforço é explicitar as nuances e o dinamismo presente no pensamento de Nicolau a partir do pressuposto da _nulla (...) proportio_ entre a mente humana que é finita e a verdade absoluta que é infinita. (shrink)

Nicolau de Cusa é conhecido por suas teorias a respeito do conhecimento, principalmente por sua obra A douta ignorância. Nela e em outras, sempre dentro de uma visão medieval, vê-se que a.sabedoria cusana é uma tentativa de alcançar incansavelmente o inalcançável. Para tanto são de grande importância os símbolos matemáticos.

Nikolaus von Kues veranschaulicht sein metaphysisch-theologisches Prinzip der coincidentia oppositorum anhand geometrischer Konstruktionen. Eine dieser Darstellungen bringt den Beryll ins Spiel. Ich versuche, seine Rolle in Cusanus’ Ausführungen zu klären und Parallelen aufzuzeigen zwischen dem Einsatz dieses Instruments und Strategien der Begriffsbildung in der heutigen Mathematik. Nicolaus of Cusa illustrates his metaphysico-theological principle of ›coincidentia oppositorum‹ by means of geometrical constructions. One of these representations uses a beryl as an auxiliary instrument. In this paper, I attempt to explore (...) the role played by the beryl in Cusanus’ considerations, and to demonstrate some similarities between his use of this instrument and certain strategies in the formation of concepts in modern mathematics. (shrink)

Gianluca CUOZZO. Editora Fontenele Publicações. Trad. Íris Fátima da Silva Uribe e Luis Uribe Miranda. São Paulo, Brasil, 2018, 270 páginas. ISBN: 978-85-9585-183-2.

O presente artigo busca analisar, a partir da leitura da obra De Quaerendo Deum, como a questão da luz se faz central no processo de elevação intelectual a partir do sensível na obra cusana. Nele iremos mostrar como a luz é o elo que guia o objeto sensível até o intelecto e o intelecto até Deus. Tomado esse objetivo, o artigo será dividido em duas partes, na primeira iremos abordar a questão central da obra De Docta Ignorantia, que é os (...) limites de se conhecer propriamente Deus e as essências das coisas. Vai se buscar a partir daí apresentar os fundamentos para o que será o papel da experiência estética em Cusa. A constatação do nosso limite em conhecer verdadeiramente o infinito e a Verdade geradora não são postos por Cusa como forma de desestimular a conjectura sobre elas, pelo contrário, é a partir dessa constatação que nos é possível, pela ignorância esclarecida, buscar mais propriamente nos aproximarmos, ainda que nunca cheguemos, dessas Verdades. Tomada essa base fundamental, trabalharemos no segundo tópico o ponto central aqui proposto, a saber, a importância da luz nesse processo. Focados principalmente na obra cusana De Quaerendo Deum iremos articular os conceitos de teofania e a importância da luz. A teofania será central para o conceito de anagogia através da contemplação estética, fundamentando como pode-se buscar conjecturar sobre o Criador a partir de sua manifestação na criação. Longe de ser um panteista a teoria cusana busca expressar que, apesar de inacessível em sua totalidade devido a sua própria natureza, o Deus cusano não se esconde, mas sim se manifesta na sua criação, sendo possível conjecturar sobre Ele a partir da percepção sensível sobre os objetos criados. Nesse sistema, a luz será explorada tanto enquanto luz sensível, como também enquanto a luz interior e principalmente a luz como manifestação e ligação com a divindade a partir do intelecto humano, dessa forma vai se mostrar como todo o processo de elevação a partir da contemplação sensível tem a presença da luz como parte essencial. Palavras chave: Cusa. Estética. Luz. Teofania. (shrink)

At the beginning of De Visione Dei, Nicholas of Cusa puts us before an icon of the divine glance and invites us to an experimentation – initially surrounded by the metaphorical reflection – of the mystic contemplation. Working with the metaphor of the glance, the Cusano leaves us before the Creator’s look and the creature’s look. In the De Visione Dei, the divine look is creator and lover. The God’s look sees, creates and loves. This way, the present work (...) will look for to meditate on the importance of the glance, seeking in the De Visione Dei a way to relate the multiplicity of the created look with the unit of the creator look. (shrink)

This article tries to show how the idea of 'expression' -together with the 'mirror metaphor'- appears to solve, in the mystical philosophy of Nicholas of Cusa, the problematic relationship between the unity of God and the multiplicity of the world (Urbild-Abbild).

-/- Philosophische Texte von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart sind Programm der Philosophischen Bibliothek. Jedes Jahr erscheinen in der »grünen Reihe« nach neuesten wissenschaftlichen Erkenntnissen erarbeitete Studienausgaben für alle, die es ernst meinen mit der Philosophie. -/- Herausgegeben von führenden Vertretern des Faches, eingeleitet und kommentiert, im Original, in Übersetzung oder zweisprachig, stehen hier neben den Klassikern der Philosophiegeschichte auch weniger bekannte und bisher marginalisierte Texte, die es wiederzuentdecken gilt. Repräsentative Auswahl- und Gesamtausgaben sowie Studien- und Wörterbücher ergänzen das Programm. (...) Gegenwärtig sind über 500 Titel von etwa 160 Autoren aus den letzten 2400 Jahren lieferbar. -/- Die Philosophische Bibliothek (gegr. 1868) ist die älteste und umfangreichste Sammlung philosophischer Texte, betreibt aber keine museale Rückschau auf geistesgeschichtliche Antiquitäten. Jeder einzelne Band schlägt eine Brücke zwischen aktueller Forschung und philosophischem Studium. Sorgfältigste Edition, Erläuterungen, Register und Bibliographien zeichnen diese Reihe aus, die zum Markenzeichen kritischer Textpräsentation geworden ist. (shrink)

Normal 0 21 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Tabela normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} Neste trabalho interessa-nos pensar a relaçáo entre unidade e multiplicidade, um problema fundamental tanto filosófico quanto teológico como lembra Beierwaltes (1989, p. 179), a partir do vocabulário filosófico-teológico cusano. Na primeira parte do texto fazemos uma leitura às avessas da obra cusana. Partimos da suposiçáo de que no De (...) apice tehoriae Nicolau de Cusa sugere um princípio a partir do qual pode ser lida tanto a sua última obra quanto toda a sua especulaçáo. Uma correta interpretaçáo desse princípio pode ser construída ao pensarmos o modo de ser próprio das coisas criadas. O princípio primeiro se deixa ver e as coisas principiadas sáo sua manifestaçáo e apariçáo. Porém, apariçáo perfeita do princípio é o seu Verbo. Em termos filosóficos isso significa que a apariçáo perfeita da unidade náo é a pluralidade (sua explicatio ), mas a igualdade (sua imago ). Será o De mente a nos sugerir a diferença. Na segunda parte, portanto, refletiremos sobre a complicatio - explicatio como aposta cusana para se pensar o problema da unidade e da multiplicidade. Retomamos essa discussáo a partir do De docta ignorantia e da Apologia quando Nicolau deve se defender da acusaçáo feita por Wenck, no De ignota litteratura , de ter feito coincidir criador e criatura. (shrink)

El propósito de esta investigación es tratar de hacer una aproximación al pensamiento metafísico de Nicolás de Cusa partiendo de su libro La caza de la sabiduría, en las siguientes fases: 1. En primer lugar, pretendo contextualizar al autor, principalmente aquellos aspectos que han marcado notoriamente su pensamiento, como son por ejemplo el comienzo del renacimiento, su papel en la defensa de la unidad de la iglesia, la presencia del pensamiento aristotélico y platónico en la época en que vivió, (...) etc. Trato de destacar lo que considera las claves hermenéuticas para la comprensión de su pensamiento filosófico. 2. A continuación, analizo los temas tratados en esta obra, remarcando las grandes cuestiones Cusanas, a medida que van siendo incoadas. Cito algunas de las discusiones planteadas en la bibliografía referentes a la interpretación que diferentes autores han ido haciendo, y trato de aportar luces tras la lectura e interpretación del libro La caza de la sabiduría. 3. Finalmente presento una serie de conclusiones con mi parecer personal acerca de algunas de las cuestiones más debatidas en la bibliografía consultada. (shrink)