Nicholas of Cusa

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Nicholas of Cusa, from a painting by Master of the Life of the Virgin, located in the St. Nikolaus-Hospital at Kues (c. 1480)

Nicholas of Cusa (* 1401 in Kues, today Bernkastel-Kues; † 11 August 1464 in Todi, Umbria), also Nicholas of Kues, Latinised Nicolaus Cusanus, was a universally educated German philosopher, theologian and mathematician who was already famous during his lifetime. He was one of the first German humanists in the era of transition between the Late Middle Ages and the early modern period. Whether the conventional designation "mystic" seems to make sense for him depends on the definition of the term mysticism and is judged differently in research.

In church politics, Nicholas played a significant role, especially in the disputes over church reform. At the Council of Basel, he was initially on the side of the majority of the council participants, who demanded a limitation of the Pope's powers. Later, however, he switched to the papal camp, which ultimately gained the upper hand. He campaigned vigorously for papal interests, showed diplomatic skill and made a brilliant career as a cardinal (from 1448), papal legate, prince-bishop of Brixen and vicar-general in the Papal States. In Brixen, however, he encountered massive resistance from the nobility and the sovereign, against whom he was unable to prevail.

As a philosopher, Nicholas stood in the tradition of Neoplatonism, whose ideas he absorbed from both ancient and medieval writings. His thinking revolved around the concept of the collapse of opposites into a unity (coincidentia oppositorum), in which the contradictions between seemingly incompatible things dissolve. Metaphysically and theologically, he saw God as the place of this unity. Cusanus wrote about this in detail in one of his first writings, De docta ignorantia ("On Learned Ignorance", 1440). He also professed an ideal of unity in state theory and politics. The goal of achieving the greatest possible unity was of the highest value to him; in contrast, he considered factual differences of opinion to be of secondary importance. In the spirit of this way of thinking, he developed a concept of religious tolerance that was unusual for his time. He conceded a certain truthfulness and right to exist to Islam, which he dealt with intensively.

Rudolf Steiner on Nicholas of Cusa

„One looks deeply into the characteristics of this time when one considers Cardinal Nicolaus Cusanus. (Read about him in my book "Mysticism in the Rise of Modern Spiritual Life"). His personality is like a column of markers of the time. He wants to bring to general validity views which do not fight the grievances of the physical world in swarm-spiritual tendencies, but which, through a healthy human sense, lead back into this world what has gone off the rails. Look at his work at the Basel Council and elsewhere within his ecclesiastical community, and you will notice this.

If the Cusan is thus fully inclined towards the turn of development with the unfolding of the soul of consciousness, one sees him on the other hand reveal views which show Michael's powers in a luminous way. He introduces into his time the good old ideas which led the human soul-sense to the development of abilities for the perception of the essential intelligences in the cosmos, when Michael still administered the world-intellectuality. The "learned ignorance" of which he speaks is a comprehension that lies above the perception directed towards the world of the senses, which leads thinking beyond intellectuality - ordinary knowledge - into a region where - in ignorance - but instead in experiential seeing the spiritual is grasped. Thus the Cusanian is the personality who, feeling the disturbance of the cosmic equilibrium by Michael in his own soul life, intuitively wants to contribute as much as possible to orienting this disturbance towards the salvation of humanity.“ (Lit.:GA 26, p. 143f)

According to Rudolf Steiner, Nicolaus Cusanus was reborn a little later as Nicolaus Copernicus (1473 - 1543):

„Such a high personality as Nicolaus Cusanus already acted out of the Arupa sphere in ordinary life. It is true that every human being acts out of the Arupa sphere, but only a few know anything about it. The higher a person has risen into the Arupa sphere in the time between two earth lives, the more the divine breaks through in him. Cusanus wrote a work on non-knowledge out of higher knowledge: "De docta ignorantia". Ignorantia means not-knowing, and not-knowing here is synonymous with higher looking. In his books he pronounced the following: There is a core of truth in all religions, we only need to look deep enough into them. - He has also said that the earth moves around the sun. He said this out of an intuition. Copernicus only had this insight in the 16th century, Cusanus already in the 15th century. Such an incarnation as that of Cusanus must be seen in the context of his later incarnation. Cusanus already points on the one hand to the future theosophy and on the other hand to the future modern natural science. This had an influence on his subsequent incarnation. It was Nicholas Cusanus who reappeared in Copernicus.“ (Lit.:GA 88, p. 183)

Literature

German
References to the work of Rudolf Steiner follow Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works (CW or GA), Rudolf Steiner Verlag, Dornach/Switzerland, unless otherwise stated.
Email: verlag@steinerverlag.com URL: www.steinerverlag.com.
Index to the Complete Works of Rudolf Steiner - Aelzina Books
A complete list by Volume Number and a full list of known English translations you may also find at Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works
Rudolf Steiner Archive - The largest online collection of Rudolf Steiner's books, lectures and articles in English.
Rudolf Steiner Audio - Recorded and Read by Dale Brunsvold
steinerbooks.org - Anthroposophic Press Inc. (USA)
Rudolf Steiner Handbook - Christian Karl's proven standard work for orientation in Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works for free download as PDF.
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