NICHOLAS OF CUSA

Nicolaus Cusanus
Nikolaus von Kues
(1401-1464)
 LIFE OF NICHOLAS OF CUSA
German philosopher, theologian,
jurist, and astronomer. One of the
first German proponents of
Renaissance humanism, he made
spiritual and political
contributions in European history.
Papal legate to Germany from 1446, he was
appointed cardinal for his merits by Pope
Nicholas V in 1448 and Prince–Bishop of
Brixen two years later. In 1459 he became
vicar general in the Papal States.

Died at Todi in Umbria in 1464.

BASILICA DI SAN PIETRO IN VINCOLI, ROME
CHAINS OF ST. PETER
CARDINAL NICHOLAS BEFORE ST. PETER
NICHOLAS OF CUSA’S
PHILOSOPHY
 DE DOCTA IGNORANTIA

Cusanus was a conciliator: his speculative

thought is governed by a similar ideal of the
harmony of opposite views.

As his predecessors were claiming allegiance to

Aristotle, he came to the conclusion that the
lesson his contemporaries most needed to learn
was their own ignorance .
 DE DOCTA IGNORANTIA
•God has implanted in us the desire to know
but that our judgments only approximate the
truth without completely comprehending it.
•When we have fully realized it we have
acquired “learned ignorance” (docta
ignorantia): The more learned a man is, the
more he will appreciate how much he does
not know.
•The inadequacy of human knowledge is
particularly clear when its object is the infinite.
But no matter how many steps we take in an
inquiry, we will never arrive at the infinite,
because it is infinitely distant from our starting
point.
•There is no relation at all between the finite and
the infinite: the infinite is out of all proportion to
the finite, so that no comparison or analogy can
be established between them.
•Our mind is at home with the relative, the
multiple, and the finite, not with the absolute, the
one, and the infinite.
•For this we are endowed with a higher power
than reason; namely, intellect. Intellect does not
employ the method of comparison and relation.
It is a power of insight or intuition which sees
unity where reason sees difference and
opposition.
•Through the power of intellect, however,
we rise to “copulative” theology, which
apprehends God as transcending all
perfections in a perfect unity and
“coincidence of opposites.” (positive and
negative theology)
 GOD, THE COINCIDENCE OF OPPOSITES
•God is the greatest or maximum, a being
than which nothing greater can exist. He is
the infinite with positive fullness of being
•"More" and "less" are applicable only to
finite, relative beings, not to the infinite and
absolute being. The nature of the absolute
excludes degrees of more and less.
•The absolute maximum is everything, so
that nothing stands outside it in opposition
to it.
•It is in fact all extremes; it is the minimum as
well as the maximum. And since there is no
diversity or difference in the absolute
maximum, the minimum and the maximum
are identical in it. The absolute maximum or
God is the "coincidence of opposites."