Nicholas of Cuse, “De mente”: the Broadening of the Man-Image Doctrine
Abstract
Within the framework of the formulation of the Docta Ignorancia, the third dialogue of the Idiota presents a profuse speculation on the human mens. This treatise begins with the analysis of the word “mens” characterized as a “measure” of the totality of reality. This determines the place of man in the cosmos; Nicholas of Cuse emphasizes both its intermediate nature and its condition of universal mediation. The mens, the only image of God –everything else is explicatio dei– shares with the absolute infinite some of its attributes: complicative capacity and creative power. But, while God is “complicatio absoluta” and his life or force is “entitativa”, the human spirit “complicates” humaniter and has a formative or assimilative way. The question “man, image of God” has many original consequences in Nicolas de Cusa: by giving meaning to the world created by God, the human mens becomes secundus deus. Taking into account the considerations of the De Mente on this subject, this article admits the “modern” Cusanus elite but highlights, above all, its profoundly medieval roots.Downloads
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