"Individuum und Kosmos in der Philosophie der Renaissance" (1927) schreibt ein Stück philosophischer Problemgeschichte und geht der Frage nach, "ob und inwiefern die Gedankenbewegung des 15. und 16. Jahrhunderts bei aller Mannigfaltigkeit der Problemansätze und bei aller Divergenzen der Lösungen eine in sich geschlossene Einheit bildet". Provoziert durch Burckhardts Renaissancestudie, die die Philosophie der Zeit unberücksichtigt läßt, versucht Cassirer nachzuweisen, daß auch die Renaissancephilosophie Teil einer "geistigen Gesamtbewegung" ist und eigene systematische Mittelpunkte besitzt.

English summary: Nicolas Cusanus' position on Islam is not easily discerned. While in De Pace Fidei he seems to present an Irenic vision of the different religions and the dialog that could be established amongst them, in the Cribratio Alkorani, according to numerous interpretations, he seems more rigid, precluding any constructive dialog between Christianity and Islam. However, as this volume shows, matters are not quite that black and white: the contributions allow us to form a better idea of (...) the coherence of Cusanus' position on dialog and the relationship between the Cribratio Alkorani and his general theological views. French description: La position de Nicolas de Cues sur l'islam n'est pas facile... cerner. Dans le De Pace Fidei, il semble presenter une vision irenique des differentes religions et du dialogue qui pourrait s'etablir entre elles et ce discours general vaut en particulier pour l'islam, tandis que dans la Cribratio Alkorani, Nicolas, aux dire de nombreux interpretes, se montrerait beaucoup plus incisif, au point que ce livre ne pourrait absolument pas constituer le fondement d'un dialogue constructif entre le christianisme et l'islam. Mais un certain nombre de travaux du present volume, montre que les choses ne sont pas si tranchees. Certes, Nicolas de Cues ignorait pas mal de choses sur l'Islam et les documents qu'il utilise l'induisent dans un certain nombre de cas en erreur. Mais, par de l... la lettre, il ressort qu'il a remarquablement compris l'esprit coranique et que ces textes meritent... cet egard plus d'attention qu'ils n'en ont generalement recue. Le present recueil permet de se faire une idee plus precise de la coherence de la position de Nicolas de Cues sur le dialogue entre christianisme et islam et des liens entre les theses de la Cribatio Alkorani et la pensee globale du grand cardinal. Le livre est issu d'un Colloque tenu sur ce theme... l'Universite de Rennes le 9 avril et rassemble des contributions de Walter Andreas Euler, Tom Kerger, Genevieve Gobillot (deux textes), Susan Gottlober, Graziella Federici Vescovini Herve Pasqua.et Jean-Michel Counet. (shrink)

Les mathématiques constituent pour Nicolas de Cues (1401-1464) une discipline intellectuelle clé. Elles sont d'une part la manifestation la plus nette et la plus parfaite de la fécondité de la raison qui s'exprime en elles comme dans sa forme symbolique essentielle, et d'autre part elles constituent la porte d'entrée vers la métaphysique. Celle devrait en toute logique s'appeler d'ailleurs métamathématique plutôt que métaphysique, terme qui ressortit davantage à la tradition aristotélicienne à laquelle Nicolas de Cues préférait manifestement une (...) filiation pythagoricienne et platonicienne. Les études rassemblées dans ce volume abordent différentes thématiques liées à ces deux axes: conception de l'espace géométrique, méthodes mathématiques concrètes pour aborder le problème de la quadrature du cercle, statut du point, méthode des proportions, approche mathématique de l'Un, mathématiques et doctrine trinitaire, et bien d'autres thématiques sont ici abordées et traitées par une équipe de spécialistes. (shrink)

Le sujet de l’article est la situation actuelle de la recherche internationale sur le Cusain et ses perspectives pour l’avenir. Au cours du xxe siècle, la recherche internationale sur Nicolas de Cues a connu une expansion énorme. L’édition historique-critique de son œuvre est achevée. Aujourd’hui, il existe des centres sur le Cusain pas seulement en Allemagne, au Japon et aux États-Unis, mais aussi aux Pays-Bas, en Italie, en Argentine, en Russie et en France. à l’échelle mondiale, beaucoup de thèses (...) de doctorat sont écrites sur Nicolas de Cues, sans parler des nombreux articles le concernant. à l’occasion du 25e anniversaire de l’American Cusanus Society en mai 2008 à Kalamazoo, le philosophe américain Clyde Lee Miller a étudié la recherche sur Nicolas de Cues sous quatre angles différents que l’article reprend pour esquisser les futures perspectives de la recherche sur le Cusain. (shrink)

The article reconstructs the history of historiography on the philosophy of Nicholas of Cusa in the 20th century and focuses on the book of Ernst Cassirer entitled Individuum und Kosmos in der Philosophie der Renaissance. The research hypothesis is that Cassirer’s position on the modernity of the Cusanus’ philosophy was the starting point of the formation of two different historiographical currents in the 20th century : the former interested in the understanding of the genesis of what is called modern (...) subjectivity and the latter, in defining the image of Italian humanism in the history of Renaissance philosophy. (shrink)

Nikolaus von Kues ist eine der faszinierendsten Persönlichkeiten im Übergang vom Mittelalter zur Neuzeit. Während seine theologischen und neuplatonischen Vorstellungen viel beachtet werden, gilt das weniger für seine naturphilosophischen Ideen: Wie Gott die Welt in Wirklichkeit, so schafft der Mensch sie in Gedanken. Beobachtung, Experiment und Mathematik sind zum Verständnis der Natur notwendig. Die biblische Überlieferung ist nicht wörtlich zu nehmen. Er propagierte ein fast unendliches Universum ohne Mittelpunkt und Begrenzung mit einer sich bewegenden Erde. Besonders bedeutsam im Hinblick auf (...) Reichweite und Grenzen moderner Naturwissenschaft ist seine Theorie des "Wissens vom Nichtwissen": Wissenschaft selbst ist geeignet, ihre eigenen Grenzen zu erkennen. Die Schrift würdigt auch die Persönlichkeit des Cusanus und schließt mit einem Essay über die Beziehung von Naturwissenschaft und Religion in unserer Zeit. The booklet is a re-edition of sections on Nicolas de Cusa in my book "Die gedachte Natur" (1991), also in philpapers. Cusanus was of one of the most original philosophers of the early Renaissance. He gave reasons for human self-confidence: as God created the world order in reality, man creates it in his mind. Not only mathematics, but also quantitative experiments, are essential for understanding nature. Human rationality is superior to verbal interpretations of the Bible: the universe is almost infinite, with no limits and no centre, and with a moving earth. And he insisted on what he considered to be the highest form of knowledge: the knowledge of the limits of knowledge, with far-reaching implications for the philosophy of nature and human cognition. (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)

Il contributo consiste in una analisi e commento della prima sezione del De docta ignorantia di Nicola Cusano (capp. I-XVI), dedicata ai concetti di precisione matematica e di uguaglianza. Il saggio offre la possibilità di ripercorrere la teoria della conoscenza di Cusano, laddove l'impossibilità per la ragione di giungere ad una mens-ura precisa dell'oggetto da conoscere non si trasforma in una mera cultura del limite, bensì la filosofia negativa diviene base per la mistica. In altri termini l'obiettivo specifico del saggio (...) è rilevare come il metodo della dotta ignoranza apra alla conoscenza dell'infinito proprio nel momento in cui essa nega ogni conoscenza razionale precisa. La matematica diviene dunque il fondamento su cui far leva per innalzare la propria mente (transferre) verso la conoscenza simbolica di Dio, nel medesimo solco tracciato da Dionigi e dalla tradizione della mistica speculativa. (shrink)

La concepción cusana de la possibilitas / materia (posibilidad / materia) está directamente ligada con la doctrina de los modos de ser (modi essendi) sobre los que el Cusano se explaya, con diversos grados de profundidad, en varias de sus obras, entre las que se cuenta De docta ignorantia (1440), De conjecturis (1440), De Mente (1450), De venatione sapientiae (1462) y De ludo globi (1463). A lo largo de esas obras Nicolás de Cusa aborda dos aspectos centrales de la posibilidad (...) / materia, estrechamente relacionados entre sí: el aspecto ontológico y el aspecto gnoseológico. En la primera sección de este artículo expondremos la caracterización ontológica de la posibilidad / materia en el marco de los distintos modos de ser. En la segunda sección nos dedicaremos a desarrollar las perspectivas de Cusa acerca del conocimiento del modo de ser de la posibilidad o materia . (shrink)

In Nicolas of Cusa’s De li non aliud, chapter 19, one should read “in prima seu metaphysicali philosophia” instead of “in prima seu mentali philosophia.” This conjectural emendation is required because the identification of ‘first philosophy’ with ‘mental philosophy’ is attested nowhere else. The paper shows that the huge literature on Cusanus’ alleged re-interpretation of metaphysics as Geistphilosophie rests on a copyist’s mistake.

For Nicholas of Cusa, excellence, worship, law and discipline are not the ways to arrive at divine wisdom and eternal life; instead, virtuous life, keeping the commandments, sensible devotion, mortification of the flesh, scorning the world, and everything that shows love and fear of God are the true ways. These points, which were considered essential to strengthening the religious experience for church members and leading the soul to knowledge of God, had been insisted upon already by thinkers before Cusanus, (...) from Wycliffe to Hus, and including the authors of Devotio Moderna.. (shrink)

Il lavoro consiste in una particolare rilettura del testo cusaniano, nella quale si cerca di evidenziare, tra le altre fonti, soprattutto la presenza di Meister Eckhart. La “discesa” nel fondo dell'anima è presentata come il culmine teoretico di quel cammino di visione a cui e-duca l'aegnima dell'icona. Per queste ragioni l'articolo punta sull'influsso della mistica speculativa in campo teoretico e di quella dottrina che M. Eckhart chiama “Generazione del Logos nell'anima”. Tale trattazione apre poi il senso dell'ampia sezione dedicata alla (...) filosofia negativa e ai “nomi divini” del Deus Trinitas, stavolta sulla scia di Dionigi: Infinito, Non-Aliud e Padre. Centrale è la figura del Cristo, unica vera condizione di possibilità della visione “di” Dio in quanto unico mediatore tra il finito e l'infinito; in Cristo si realizza quella paradossale unione delle due nature ed offre così all'umanità la chiave tanto desiderata per avvicinare l'Infinito. (shrink)

Cet essai entend montrer les liens unissant les théories épistémologiques humanistes de Ficin, Pomponazzi et Cues, telles qu'elles apparaissent à travers leur réception de la philosophie grecque antique et de la philosophie médiévale, plus particulièrement du Théétète de Platon et du De anima d'Aristote. Il montre que, précédant l'opposition entre le scheme platonicien de la connaissance prôné par Ficin et l'exposé aristotélicien sur l'intellect dont Pomponazzi s'est fait le chantre, Cues avait tenté d'articuler la nature de l'esprit en soi, que (...) tout mode de connaissance présuppose. This essay explores the interconnections among the humanistic epistemological theories of Ficino, Pomponazzi and Cusanus apparent in the context of their reception of ancient Greek and medieval philosophy, especially Plato's Theaetetus and Aristotle's De anima. It shows that preceding the opposition between the Platonic scheme of knowledge favored by Ficino and the Aristotelian account of the intellect championed by Pomponazzi, Cusanus attempted to articulate the nature of the mind as such which all modes of knowledge presuppose. (shrink)

»Neque quidquam intelligi potest esse sine esse.« On the necessity of being as an epistemological principle in Meister Eckhart and Nicholas of Kues. The paper analyses the plausibility of the reasoning for the rational necessity of being. The decisive point for the question as to why for Meister Eckhart being alone is necessary, unvarying in itself and self-evident is the conviction that nothing can be thought which is distinct from being, outside of being or without being. Eckhart states this basic (...) philosophical insight repeatedly using the how-question: How could something be knowable as being which is not and cannot be? Nicolas Cusanus concurs with Eckhart’s claim that nothingness is absolutely excluded from being and embraces his strategy of argumentation, including the way it is stated. Cusanus adopts the central principle of Eckhart’s thought that being must be absolutely knowable by founding all multiplicity in unity, that is, in the being of unity, taking recourse in this point to the quomodo-question typical for Eckhart. Cusanus claims to have proved philosophically that being is rationally necessary, that it is a comprehensive, ultimate and incontrovertible certainty: Nothing can be truer and more secure than the presupposition of being, which is indispensable for all thinking. (shrink)

English summary: The conference papers collected in this volume focus on Platonism in the Byzantine Middle Ages and Italian Renaissance. Authors considered are Maximos and Psellos, as well as Nicolas Cusanus, the Florentine Platonics of the 15th century, up to Pico della Mirandola. German description: Zu den charakteristischen Aspekten der italienischen Renaissance gehort ein esoterisch gepragter Platonismus, der wesentlich auf Vorlaufern im byzantinischen Mittelalter beruht. Von besonderer Bedeutung sind dabei die Chaldaeischen Orakel und der Hermetismus; weiterhin treten neben (...) die Hinwendung zur Weisheit des alten Agypten vielfaltige Varianten des Interesses an Platonismus und Esoterik. Diese Themen, dazu Phanomene der spateren Rezeptionsgeschichte bis in die Zeit der Aufklarung, waren Gegenstand einer Tagung, die vom 19. bis 23. Juli 2010 in Frankfurt am Main stattfand. Die im vorliegenden Sammelband enthaltenen Beitrage gehen auf diese Veranstaltung zuruck. Im Mittelpunkt stehen dabei aus byzantinischer Zeit Schriften des Maximos und des Psellos, aus der Renaissance Texte von Nikolaus von Kues und den Florentiner Platonikern des fruhen 15. Jahrhunderts bis zu Giovanni Pico della Mirandola. Weitere Beitrage gelten Malerei (Benozzo Gozzoli), Architektur (Leon Battista Alberti, Filarete) und dem Interesse an magischen Gemmen. Auf die spatere Rezeptionsgeschichte zielen Artikel zu Jean Le Clerc und den Freimaurern bis ins 18. Jahrhundert. (shrink)

A generalized and unifying viewpoint to both general relativity and quantum mechanics and information is investigated. It may be described as a generaliztion of the concept of reference frame from mechanics to thermodynamics, or from a reference frame linked to an element of a system, and thus, within it, to another reference frame linked to the whole of the system or to any of other similar systems, and thus, out of it. Furthermore, the former is the viewpoint of general relativity, (...) the latter is that of quantum mechanics and information. Ciclicity in the manner of Nicolas Cusanus (Nicolas of Cusa) is complemented as a fundamental and definitive property of any totality, e.g. physically, that of the universe. It has to contain its externality within it somehow being namely the totality. This implies a seemingly paradoxical (in fact, only to common sense rather logically and mathematically) viewpoint for the universe to be repesented within it as each one quant of action according to the fundamental Planck constant. That approach implies the unification of gravity and entanglement correspondiing to the former or latter class of reference frames. An invariance, more general than Einstein's general covariance is to be involved as to both classes of reference frames unifying them. Its essence is the unification of the discrete and cotnitinuous (smooth). That idea underlies implicitly quantum mechanics for Bohr's principle that it study the system of quantum microscopic entities and the macroscopic apparatus desribed uniformly by the smmoth equations of classical physics. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:The 2004 Gerald Weisfeld Lectures:Buddhism and Christianity in DialoguePerry Schmidt-LeukelIn May 2004 the Centre for Inter-Faith Studies (University of Glasgow) sponsored the second series of Gerald Weisfeld Lectures, titled "Buddhism and Christianity in Dialogue." The lectures were part of the events leading up to the Dalai Lama's visit to Scotland at the end of May 2004. Over four weeks there were two lectures each week, one read by a (...) Christian and one by a Buddhist—both of them speaking on the same topic and both of them speaking comparatively, but from the background of their own tradition.The theme of week 1 was "Human Existence in Buddhism and Christianity"—the Christian speaker being Elizabeth Harris of London; the Buddhist speaker being Kiyoshi Tsuchiya, who teaches at Glasgow University. Harris pointed out that in their analysis of the human condition, Buddhism and Christianity show serious commonalities. For both traditions, human existence is ambivalent: on the one hand deeply permeated by the roots of evil (craving and ignorance according to Buddhism; sin according to Christianity), and on the other hand human (existence also offers a way out: there is the possibility of salvation or liberation). However, said Harris, Buddhism and Christianity "converge and diverge." Human self-centeredness is seen at the root of the problem according to both traditions, and there are convergences of their respective ways of salvation, too. The differences are, said Harris, primarily located in the active function of God for the salvific process within Christianity and in the role of reincarnation within the Buddhist analysis of human existence which is without any parallel in Christianity.Tsuchiya agreed that both traditions understand the self as the major source of the human predicament, but held that they understand this in a different sense. While the self is seen as sinful but nevertheless real in Christianity, Buddhism sees it as an unwholesome illusion. Resulting are two different or even contradictory forms of self-understanding, a "relational," individualistic ego dominant in Christianity, a sort of cosmological ego characteristic for Buddhism, particularly within the Zen-Daoist tradition from which Tsuchiya speaks. He illustrated this point provocatively by a comparative analysis of Kafka's story of Gregor Samsa's metamorphosis into a beetle and Chuang tzu's famous butterfly dream. This difference of self-concepts is, [End Page 157] said Tsuchiya, crucial for the rival Christian and Buddhist understandings of transcendence and cosmos: personal transcendence versus cosmological transcendence, anti-naturalism versus naturalism.In her response Harris raised the question whether Tsuchiya's representation of Christianity is really comprehensive. Are there not dimensions in Christianity supportive of his nondualist approach to nature and human existence? Tsuchiya, in his response, admitted that the ultimate religious goals might converge, but insisted on at least a "possibly contradictory" religious orientation with specific dangers on both sides, so that there is room for mutual constructive challenge.The debate of week 1 continued through week 2, which was dedicated to "Ultimate Reality in Buddhism and Christianity," the Christian speaker being Karl Baier from the University of Vienna; the Buddhist lecturer Minoru Nambara, professor emeritus from the University of Tokyo. Baier presented an admittedly selective view of Christianity following the line of the neoplatonic, mystical tradition. From here he offered a comparative analysis of the deconstructive efforts of Nagarjuna and Nicolas Cusanus, who both employed the fourfold negation in order to introduce their nondual and nonconceptual view of the relation between ultimate and nonultimate reality. For Baier the obvious affinities between these two (sub-)traditions are getting even stronger in the present situation, for "by means of transformative encounter Buddhism and Christianity cease to be independent bodies of thought."Sketching the various transformations of Buddhism on its way from India to China, Nambara held that for Chinese Buddhism "this very world is in and of itself the ultimate subject, the ultimate reality." Zen practice, accordingly, is "a way where no metaphysical flowers blossom." To live by the bottomless ground of everything, which is in itself no-thing, is to live as "neither masters nor slaves of nature." The biblical God—understood as the one who can create and destroy nature—is at deep variance with... (shrink)

More than six centuries of Christian and non-Christian reflection and admiration of Meister Eckhart are the subject matter of this very scholarly yet very readable work. Philosophers like Nicolas Cusanus and Hegel, great scholars like H. Denifle and a number of lesser men are examined in order to determine what they thought about Eckhart, what they learned from him, how much they knew of him. The medieval condemnations and Cusanus' admiration issued into a period of relative neglect (...) of Eckhart, broken only by the deserving attempts of Daniel Sudermann to collect Eckhart's manuscripts. The great Dominican did not come into his own until the beginning of the last century. Franz von Baader was the one who "discovered" him and who drew Hegel's attention to some of his texts. With the monographs by C. Schmidt and Bishop Martensen, Eckhart had become known to the philosophical public as a forerunner of nineteenth-century speculation and this image had not been shattered until Denifle shifted the focus of attention to the Latin texts with their more orthodox formulations. In this century there has been a renewal of interest in the German writings which continue to have a certain popular appeal, but now, thanks to the monumental edition of the complete works, a more objective and more scholarly atmosphere pervades the literature on Meister Eckhart.--M. J. V. (shrink)

Reading Nicolas of Cusa’s works on Islam reveals a sharp distinction between his De pace fidei with its tolerant attitude and his Cribratio Alkorani with its much less tolerant approach. Some eight years passed from the appearance of De pace fidei until the publication of Cribratio Alkorani. I argue that in the period between the appearances of these books, Cusanus changed his attitude to Islam, and the Turkish threat may have been the reason.Certain historians have pointed to Desiderius (...) Erasmus’ objection to the waging of crusades and to the term semichristiani, which Erasmus occasionally used in reference to Muslims. According to these historians, the term semichristiani echoed Cusanus’ optimistic view according to which the Turks were «half-Christian». However, I found that Cusanus never used this term in any of his writings, and that the term sits in Erasmus’ writings side by side with manifest contempt and degradation expressed toward the Turks. Thus, Erasmus’ rhetoric and hostile attitude toward the Turks and Islam was far from the moderation and toleration which Cusanus presented in his De pace fidei. In its attitude and spirit Erasmus’ De bello Turcico should be compared to Cusanus’ Cribratio Alkorani rather than to De pace fidei. (shrink)

Negli ultimi anni il pensiero di Cusano è tornato di attualità in Francia: monografie, saggi, traduzioni e convegni hanno accompagnato la nascita della Société française Cusanus. Nel presente contributo offriamo una panoramica su questi studi, con particolare attenzione per due recenti pubblicazioni: la monografia di G. Federici Vescovini, Nicolas de Cues, l’homme, atome spirituel, e la raccolta di saggi curata da I. Moulin, Participation et vision de Dieu chez Nicolas de Cues.

This article considers the issue of changes in the understanding of symbols as an integral part of spiritual life in Neoplatonic philosophy. It seems that ancient Neoplatonic philosophers were the first who clearly realized the importance of symbols to spiritual life. However, it happened due to the influence of the mystical Chaldean and Egyptian thought transferred to philosophical investigation by the Chaldean oracles and Corpus hermeticum. The late Neoplatonic thought of Iamblichus and Eastern Neoplatonic schools used symbols and rituals as (...) integral parts of philosophical investigation, understood as having a mystical goal. Especially mathematical symbols played a significant role, because they were used in the most advanced theurgical rituals. This analysis of the pagan Neoplatonic philosophy permits us to show properly the thought of Pseudo- Dionysius the Areopagite, who creatively transformed the teaching of his pagan predecessors, by incorporating ancient Neoplatonic tradition into Christian theology. Pseudo-Dionysius excludes liturgical symbols from the order of the cosmos and transfers them to the plane of Salvation grounded in Biblical Revelation. Only true symbols are used in the liturgy of the Church, and thus mathematical symbols are no longer needed in the ascent of the soul to unity with God. The third part analyzes the meaning of symbolism in the thought of Nicolas of Cusa. Thanks to the rediscovery of ancient pagan Neoplatonism and Pythagorean thought, Cusanus also brings new life to the mystical meaning of mathematics. Mathematical symbols once again become an im- portant part of the mystical ascent of the soul, but this time without their ritual context. (shrink)

One cannot scrutinize mediality in a pre-media age without referring to the complex issue of Christology. The idea of Christ as medium and mediator concerns not only particular theological questions but also general issues of translation and transference, as well as models of word and image. This paper sketches first the notion of Christ′s mediality up to early Scholasticism and then highlights the new conceptual patterns developed by Bonaventure (Collationes in Hexaemeron) and Nicolas of Cusa (De visione dei).

Despre afinitățile elective dintre Mircea Eliade și diferiți oameni de cultură români și străini s-au scris multe pagini de-a lungul timpului. Cei interesați de opera savantului nu pot trece cu vederea legăturile spirituale și culturale cu Nae Ionescu, Mihail Sebastian, Emil Cioran, Constantin Noica, Goethe, C.G. Jung, Marcel Proust, Raffaele Pettazzoni etc. Și numărul acestora poate crește cu multe alte nume din țară și din străinătate, dovedind faptul că Mircea Eliade a fost și rămâne o personalitate care a marcat istoria (...) și cultura națională și universală și ale cărui idei încă fecundează spiritele preocupate de viața religioasă, de literatură sau de științele secolului în care trăim. Pornind de la aceste date, în cartea de față încercăm să creionăm felul în care ideile lui Eliade pot fi așezate alături de cele ale unor gânditori din arii diferite de cercetare, având în centru teme ce se regăsesc atât în lucrările savantului de origine română, cât și operele acestor personalități. În acest sens, ne-am oprit la câteva nume importante: Rudolf Otto, Sfântul Dionisie Areopagitul (alături de Meister Eckhart și Nicolaus Cusanus), Pr. Alexander Schmemann, Thomas J.J. Altizer, Sfântul Grigorie Palama (și isihasmul), I.P. Culianu, Marin Sorescu, Constantin Brâncuși, Nicolae Steinhardt, Pr. Dumitru Stăniloae. (shrink)

One cannot scrutinize mediality in a pre-media age without referring to the complex issue of Christology. The idea of Christ as medium and mediator concerns not only particular theological questions but also general issues of translation and transference, as well as models of word and image. This paper sketches first the notion of Christ′s mediality up to early Scholasticism and then highlights the new conceptual patterns developed by Bonaventure (Collationes in Hexaemeron) and Nicolas of Cusa (De visione dei).

This article focuses both on the multifarious personality of Jos Decorte and on the primary themes that recur throughout his writings in light of his death in a tragic traffic accident fourteen years ago. Being a scholar in medieval philosophy, Decorte’s main purpoie was not only to rehabilitate the pivotal role that each of the aforementioned thinkers played within the evolution of medieval philosophy, but to apply their insights to contemporary problems as well. To that end, he wished to transform (...) Henry of Ghent’s ontology of relations and Cusanus’ conjectural ontology into subtler forms that could be adjusted to the predicaments of twentieth century philosophy. Wavering between the tradition of metaphysics and that of negative theology, he defined his own project as striving towards an ideal that, albeit not rationally grounded, could give rise to different and interrelated ramifications of rationality. Finally, it is shown how that ideal was reflected in his strong engagement, alike in his personal and in academic life. (shrink)

The empirical study of belief is emerging at a rapid clip, uniting work from all corners of cognitive science. Reliance on belief in understanding and predicting behavior is widespread. Examples can be found, inter alia, in the placebo, attribution theory, theory of mind, and comparative psychological literatures. Research on belief also provides evidence for robust generalizations, including about how we fix, store, and change our beliefs. Evidence supports the existence of a Spinozan system of belief fixation: one that is automatic (...) and independent of belief rejection. Independent research supports the existence of a system of fragmented belief storage: one that relies on large numbers of causally isolated, context-sensitive stores of belief in memory. Finally, empirical and observational data support at least two systems of belief change. One system adheres, mostly, to epistemological norms of updating; the other, the psychological immune system, functions to guard our most centrally held beliefs from potential inconsistency with newly formed beliefs. Refining our under- standing of these systems can shed light on pressing real-world issues, such as how fake news, propaganda, and brainwashing exploit our psychology of belief, and how best to construct our modern informational world. (shrink)

Etablie sur les dernieres editions revues par Malebranche, la presente edition des Conversations chretiennes et des Meditations sur l'humilite et la penitence reunit, selon les intentions de l'auteur, les textes disjoints par les editeurs modernes. Nous tenons compte d'une edition des petites meditations de 1701 jusqu'ici perdue. Par leur date de publication et par les enrichissements qu'ils apportent a la Recherche de la verite ces textes annoncent les Eclaircissements de 1678 et les oeuvres de la maturite. L'orthographe et la ponctuation (...) sont modernisees, et les citations retraduites. (shrink)

This book is the first extensive treatment of Husserl's phenomenology of time-consciousness. Nicolas de Warren uses detailed analysis of texts by Husserl, some only recently published in German, to examine Husserl's treatment of time-consciousness and its significance for his conception of subjectivity. He traces the development of Husserl's thinking on the problem of time from Franz Brentano's descriptive psychology, and situates it in the framework of his transcendental project as a whole. Particular discussions include the significance of time-consciousness for (...) other phenomenological themes: perceptual experience, the imagination, remembrance, self-consciousness, embodiment, and the consciousness of others. The result is an illuminating exploration of how and why Husserl considered the question of time-consciousness to be the most difficult, yet also the most central, of all the challenges facing his unique philosophical enterprise"--Provided by publisher. (shrink)

Copyright ©2005–2010 All rights reserved. Jonathan Bennett [Brackets] enclose editorial explanations. Small ·dots· enclose material that has been added, but can be read as though it were part of the original text. Occasional •bullets, and also indenting of passages that are not quotations, are meant as aids to grasping the structure of a sentence or a thought. Every four-point ellipsis . . . . indicates the omission of a brief passage that seems to present more difficulty than it is worth. (...) Larger omissions are reported, between brackets, in normal-sized type. The numbering of the segments of each dialogue is Malebranche’s. (shrink)

Andrés el Capellán: dialéctica y juego en el amor. Resumen de Tesis de doctorado en Filosofía de Nicolás José Martínez Sáez.

Many of us, even on our happiest days, struggle to quiet the constant buzz of anxiety in the background of our minds. All kinds of worries--worries about losing people and things, worries about how we seem to others--keep us from peace of mind. Distracted or misled by our preoccupations, misconceptions, and, most of all, our obsession with ourselves, we don't see the world clearly--we don't see the world as it really is. In our search for happiness and the good life, (...) this is the main problem. But luckily there is a solution, and on the path to understanding it, we can make use of the rich and varied teachings that have developed over centuries of Buddhist thought. With clarity and compassion, Nicolas Bommarito explores the central elements of centuries of Buddhist philosophy and practice, explaining how they can improve your life and teach you to live without fear. Mining important texts and lessons for practical guidance, he provides a friendly guide to the very practical goals that underpin Buddhist philosophy. After laying out the basic ideas, Bommarito walks readers through a wide range of techniques and practices we can adopt to mend ingrained habits. Rare for its exploration of both the philosophy that motivates Buddhism and its practical applications, this is a compassionate guide to leading a good life that anyone can follow. (shrink)

Je crois devoir avertir que ceux qui savent bien les principes que j'ai prouves dans la Recherche de la verite et ailleurs, n'ont pas besoin de lire les additions qui suivent, ni meme les eclaircessements qui sont a la fin de ce traite, dans lesquels on peut fort bien entendre ma pensee. Mais ils seront peut-etre utiles a ceux que je n'avais pas en vue, lorsque j'ecrivais le traite De la nature et de la Grace, et que je souhaiterais extremement (...) de pouvoir contenter aussi bien que les autres. Dans ces oeuvres completes de Malebranche, nous presentons le texte de la meilleure edition designee par Malebranche. (shrink)