Christian

[6.10.1] Cusanus, Nicolaus on God, Universe, Christ, and Human Being

A. L. KomáromiLeave a comment

Nicholas of Cusa (Nikolaus Cryfftz or Krebs in German, then Nicolaus Cusanus in Latin, 1401-1464) “Christian Neoplatonic framework to construct his own synthesis of inherited ideas”. 

  • Cusanus addresses the four categorical realities traditionally found in Christian thought: God, the natural universe, Christ and human beings.
  • God is absolute and maximum.

The following OntoUML diagram shows Cusanus model of God:

Cusanus on God and Christ:
ClassDescriptionRelation
God“Nicholas of Cusa’s most complete set of proposals about what is real occurs in his best-known work of 1440, De docta ignorantia: On Learned Ignorance. Here Cusanus addresses the four categorical realities traditionally found in Christian thought: God, the natural universe, Christ and human beings.
[…]
Nicholas begins with a single trope or symbol to lay out the parallels between his teachings in the three books, that of the “maximum.” God is the absolute Maximum; the universe is a
created image of God, the “contracted” or restricted maximum.
[…]
“Absolute” is used in its etymological sense of “free from” (ab-solutus) to characterize God’s infinity. As absolute maximum God is both unlimited and transcendent, unreachable by human conceptions that measure the limited or contracted realm of more and less.” 
Absolute“Absolute” is used in its etymological sense of “free from” (ab-solutus) to characterize
God’s infinity. As absolute maximum God is both unlimited and transcendent, unreachable by human conceptions that measure the limited or contracted realm of more and less. 
Once Cusanus conceptualizes human knowing as measuring, he proposes that our knowledge also cannot measure exactly the essence of any limited thing. A fortiori, when it comes to the unlimited God, Nicholas asserts that “there is no proportion between finite and
infinite.” The infinite God remains beyond our ken. Human efforts to understand the depth and implications of this assertion are what will render our ignorance “learn-ed.”		characterizes God
Maximum“Nicholas begins with a single trope or symbol to lay out the parallels between his teachings in the three books, that of the “maximum.” God is the absolute Maximum; the universe is a
created image of God, the “contracted” or restricted maximum.”		characterizes God
Universe“Here Cusanus addresses the four categorical realities traditionally found in Christian thought: God, the natural universe, Christ and human beings.”member of God
Christ “Here Cusanus addresses the four categorical realities traditionally found in Christian thought: God, the natural universe, Christ and human beings.
[…]
God is the absolute Maximum; the universe is a created image of God, the “contracted” or restricted maximum. Christ unites the first two as the Maximum at once absolute-and-contracted.”		component of Universe
HumanBeing“Here Cusanus addresses the four categorical realities traditionally found in Christian thought: God, the natural universe, Christ and human beings.”component of Universe

Sources

First published: 2023/2/28

[6.9.1] Giordano Bruno on the Atom

A. L. KomáromiLeave a comment

Giordano Bruno (1548–1600) presented a theory of the atom:

  • “Corporeal things comprised two material principles, earth [atom] and water, and two immaterial [principle] ones, spirit and soul.“
  • Earth [atom] is indivisible.
  • Earth [atom] is component of the soul.
  • Spirit relates to a human being.
  • Spirit is incorporeal.

The following OntoUML diagram shows Bruno’s model of the atom.

Giordano Bruno on atom
ClassDescriptionRelations
Principle“Bruno’s alternative theory of the elements drew on Pythagoreanism, ancient atomism, medieval discussions, pro and contra, of indivisible minims and Nicholas of Cusa’s elemental doctrines (BOL III, 510–536). Corporeal things comprised two material principles, earth and water, and two immaterial ones, spirit and soul. By “earth” Bruno meant the discrete, identical, irreducible spheres of which physical things were made.”
MaterialPrinciple;
ImmaterialPrinciple
“Corporeal things comprised two material principles, earth and water, and two immaterial [principle] ones, spirit and soul.”category of Principle
Indivisible“Bruno’s alternative theory of the elements drew on Pythagoreanism, ancient atomism, medieval discussions, pro and contra, of indivisible minims”characterizes Earth[Atom]
Earth[Atom]
“Corporeal things comprised two material principles, earth [atom] and water, and two immaterial ones, spirit and soul. 
He often called them “atoms” to emphasize their indivisibility. The circumferences and centres of these spherical atoms coincided. Hence, as some medieval authors had proposed, atoms were dimensionless bodies, unlike the atoms imagined by Democritus and other ancient atomists. They were, as Bruno said, the principles of spatial contraction, of solidity. “		subkind of MaterialPrinciple
Water“Corporeal things comprised two material principles, earth [atom] and water, and two immaterial ones, spirit and soul. 
Water, by contrast, was a continuum and the principle of corporeal extension. Two or more atoms, though dimensionless, bonded by water constituted a determinate body in space, just as two or more dimensionless points, in Bruno’s Pythagorean geometry, constituted a line. “The minimal body or atom was the substance of all things” (BOL I.3, 140). Observation confirmed this theory: dry, dusty, earth congealed with the addition of water. […]
Water, by contrast, was a continuum and the principle of corporeal extension. Two or more atoms, though dimensionless, bonded by water constituted a determinate body in space, just as two or more dimensionless points, in Bruno’s Pythagorean geometry, constituted a line. “The minimal body or atom was the substance of all things” (BOL I.3, 140). Observation confirmed this theory: dry, dusty, earth congealed with the addition of water.”		subkind of MaterialPrinciple
Spirit
“Corporeal things comprised two material principles, earth and water, and two immaterial ones, spirit and soul. 
Soul, the principle of motion, aggregated atoms and thereby determined the identity of a body. Spirit—the spiritus popularized by Ficino—was the incorporeal medium through which soul connected with body. Soul accounted for the existence of fire. In its purest form, fire was the combination of water and light, which, as others, including Ficino, had explained, was the physical analogue of the intellectual soul governing all things (for soul and light, see further Section 4)”		subkind of ImmaterialPrinciple
Soul“Corporeal things comprised two material principles, earth and water, and two immaterial ones, spirit and soul. 
Soul, the principle of motion, aggregated atoms and thereby determined the identity of a body. Spirit—the spiritus popularized by Ficino—was the incorporeal medium through which soul connected with body. Soul accounted for the existence of fire. In its purest form, fire was the combination of water and light, which, as others, including Ficino, had explained, was the physical analogue of the intellectual soul governing all things (for soul and light, see further Section 4)”		subkind of ImmaterialPrinciple; component of Earth[Atom]
HumanBeing“Spirit—the spiritus popularized by Ficino—was the incorporeal medium through which soul connected with body [of a human being].”in material relation with Spirit
Incorporeal“Spirit—the spiritus popularized by Ficino—was the incorporeal medium through which soul connected with body”characterizes Spirit

Sources

  • Knox, Dilwyn, “Giordano Bruno“, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2019 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.)

First published: 2023/2/18