I argue for a transformative revival or actualization of the very core of an integrative, methodologically secured form of intellect‑mystical asceticism. This approach draws on traditional sources that are re‑examined from a systematic—synthetic and transcultural—philosophical perspective and in light of the multi‑civilizational global environment of the 21st century. The main traditional points of reference in this paper are provided by Nicolaus de Cusa and Ibn Sīnā, and I refer toa few others, such as Attar of Nishapur, in passing. (...) I begin by developing a basic concept of intellect‑mystical asceticism. It is distinguished from mystification, science, scientism, and modes of everyday communication and cognition. Then, I make the case for an updated, transcultural approach to intellect‑mysticism that can foster the internal (social) and external (environmental) reintegration of the human noosphere and technosphere in future planetary development. In this context, a modern intellect‑mystical philosophical notion of “knowing non‑knowing” (wissendes Nichtwissen, docta ignorantia) is developed. It is inspired by Nicolaus de Cusa and contextualized from a systematic transcultural angle at the same time. Finally, I discuss the problem of the practical, or rather ascetic, realization of the related possibilities of intellect‑mystical self‑enfolding. Here, the preceding steps of the reflection are mapped onto an outline regarding distinct developmental stages of such a transformative intellect‑mystical practice in Ibn Sīnā’s Remarks and Admonitions (al‑Ishārāt wat‑Tanbīhāt). (shrink)

[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)

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)

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)

When faced with the charge that a given concept of God is contradictory, the standard move among philosophers and theologians has been to try to explain away the contradiction and show that the concept of God in question is consistent. This has to do, of course, with the Law of Non-Contradiction (LNC). Another option, which has recently generated interest among logicians and analytic philosophers of religion, is to reject such a move as unnecessary and defend what might be called the (...) contradictory God thesis. To be sure, something close to that can be found in philosophers such as Pseudo-Dionysius, Thomas Aquinas and Nicolaus de Cusa. However, it is only recently that this approach has gained momentum, certainly driven by the contemporary advance of dialetheism and glut theoretic approaches in general, and paraconsistent logic. Needless to say, a standard move among defenders of the contradictory God thesis is to challenge the LNC. The argumentation, however, is seldomly framed in conceptual terms. Instead, it is mostly framed in ontological terms, as God being a contradictory entity. From this perspective, the contradictory God thesis is the thesis that God is a contradictory object. My goal in this paper is to provide a conceptual assessment of the discussion surrounding the contradictory God thesis. To achieve this, I make use of a general and hopefully non-controversial meta-theory of concepts and adopt a semantic approach rather than a metaphysical one. Within this framework, I address the following questions: What are the different ways we can understand the contradictory God thesis? What grounds are there for rejecting a contradictory concept of God? What standard moves are available to defend oneself from such criticisms and how do they relate to the LNC? What challenges do they present? As a secondary goal, the paper introduces a novel defense of the contradictory God thesis, drawing on a specific interpretation of the theology of the 16th-century Indian thinker Jīva Gosvāmī, which avoids the need to challenge the LNC. I term this approach ‘non-dialetheic mystical contradictory theism.’. (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)

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.

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 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)

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.

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.

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)

Nicolás de Cusa (1401-1464), cuyo pensamiento florece en los umbrales de la Modernidad, se sabe explícitamente heredero de una plural tradición platónica. Con todo, resulta decisiva la presencia de los diálogos de Platón con los que el Cusano tuvo contacto, sea por vía directa o bien indirecta. El propósito de este artículo es estudiar uno de los tópicos centrales de la concepción cusana del lenguaje, esto es, la imposición de nombres a las cosas, a la luz del tratamiento que (...) ofrece en el tercero de los Idiotae libri, el De mente (1450), y evaluar allí la presencia plausible del Crátilo de Platón en su desarrollo. Con ello buscamos ofrecer una clave hermenéutica aún no suficientemente explorada en el ámbito internacional de los estudios sobre el pensamiento de Nicolás de Cusa. (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).

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)

A autora oferece as linhas gerais da obra De vistone de Nicolau de Cusa, expondo a sua metáfora da visão. Nesta metáfora, é possivel ver um tema importante do pensamento de Nicolau de Cusa, a saber, o modo como Deus serelaciona para com as suas criaturas e o modo como as suas criaturas se relacionam com ele, em diferentes modos de ver. A metáfora da visão toca também a natureza dos seres humanos, destinado a uma sensação privilegiada, a (...) visão de Deus. (shrink)

En este texto tratamos de dar un testimonio, basado en una relación de varias décadas con Mariano Álvarez Gómez, sobre su dedicación al pensamiento de Nicolás de Cusa y a su divulgación en el mundo ibérico. Al mismo tiempo que subrayamos su profundo conocimiento de la obra del Cardenal alemán, intentamos mostrar cómo ese conocimiento se basaba en una relación afectiva con el pensamiento estudiado y en una red de afectos que se fue estructurando y fortaleciendo en Europa y (...) en el resto del mundo con los más insignes especialistas en la obra del Cardenal alemán. Se acreditó así como uno de los más reputados investigadores de su pensamiento, haciendo de su vida, a semejanza de Nicolás de Cusa, una «caza de la sabiduría», obra cuya traducción nos dejó casi al final de su vida, tal como su autor la escribió también como su testamento filosófico. (shrink)

En el sugestivo libro aparecido en 1991 ¿Qué es la filosofía? Gilles Deleuze y Félix Guattari definen la filosofía como creación de conceptos. Añaden asimismo que esos nuevos conceptos necesitan personajes conceptuales que contribuyan a definirlos. No son muchas las veces que se asiste a la creación de un concepto. Un ejemplo recurrente es el cogito cartesiano: ¿por qué es verdaderamente una creación? En primer lugar porque no supone otros conceptos pero, sin embargo, es comprensible porque está sostenido por una (...) imagen presupuesta: todo el mundo sabe qué significa pensar. Con todo, sostienen los autores, "hay algo a medio camino entre el plano del concepto y el plano preconceptual, que va de uno a otro" (DELEUZE; GUATTARI, 1993, p 63-ss). Es el personaje conceptual. En el caso del cogito, sostienen los autores, se trata del Idiota: él es quien dice Yo, él es quien lanza el cogito... El Idiota es el pensador privado por oposición al profesor público, el profesor universitario. (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)

The aim of this paper is to present the way in which the Nicholas of Cusa understands the nature, scope and limits of papal power in the two considerations of the Priesthood in De concordantia catholica. Thus, the treatment of the Petrine office is presented separately from a monarchical perspective and from a conciliarist one. This will make it possible to clarify some common problems among the interpreters of the political thought of Nicolás de Cusa that affect the (...) coherence of the ecclesiological project. (shrink)