Nicholas of Cusa (1401–1464)

Churchman, humanist, and philosopher, Nicholas of Cusa was born in Kues (Latin, Cusa), Germany, and educated at the famous school of the Brethren of the Common Life in Deventer, Holland. Following university training in philosophy, theology, and canon law, he began a career as a legal adviser to afficher plus church officials. He served on several important embassies as papal representative and was made a cardinal in 1448. Nicholas's philosophical works are characterized by their concern with the problem of knowledge. On Learned Ignorance (De Docta Ignorantia) and On Conjectures (De conjecturis), both written in 1440, emphasize the limitation placed on human reason by its need to extend its knowledge through a comparison of the unknown with the known. Since absolute precision can never be attained by a finite comparative power, the absolute truth is unattainable by rational means. Wisdom thus consists in recognizing the approximate, conjectural character of all rational theories, and Nicholas was hopeful that reflection on the limits of rational investigation would serve to banish dogmatism from philosophical and theological disputes. In his cosmological speculations, he asserted the indeterminacy of the physical universe, and hence denied that the earth could be located precisely at the center of the cosmos. He thus represents a step toward a more open-ended view of the universe. (Bowker Author Biography) afficher moins