Nicholas of Cusa on the Trinitarian Structure of the Innate Criterion of Truth Paula Pico Estrada - 978-90-04-49956-0 Brill’s Studies in Intellectual History General Editor Han van Ruler (Erasmus University Rotterdam) Founded by Arjo Vanderjagt Editorial Board C. S. Celenza (Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore) M. Colish (Yale University, New Haven) – J. I. Israel (Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton) – A. Koba (University of Tokyo) – M. Mugnai (Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa) – W. Otten (University of Chicago) volume 335 The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/bsih Paula Pico Estrada - 978-90-04-49956-0 Nicholas of Cusa on the Trinitarian Structure of the Innate Criterion of Truth By Paula Pico Estrada LEIDEN | BOSTON Paula Pico Estrada - 978-90-04-49956-0 Cover illustration: ms M.268, fol. 1v. Purchased by J. Pierpont Morgan (1837–1913) in 1907. The Morgan Library & Museum, New York. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Pico Estrada, Paula, author. Title: Nicholas of Cusa on the trinitarian structure of the innate  criterion of truth / by Paula Pico Estrada. Other titles: Brill’s studies in intellectual history ; 335. Description: Leiden ; Boston : Brill, 2022. | Series: Brill’s studies in  intellectual history, 0920–8607 ; 335 | Includes bibliographical  references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2021048761 (print) | LCCN 2021048762 (ebook) | ISBN  9789004412507 (hardback) | ISBN 9789004499560 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Nicholas, of Cusa, Cardinal, 1401–1464. | Judgment. |  Knowledge, Theory of. | Philosophical anthropology. | Trinity. |  Metaphysics. | Philosophy, Medieval. Classification: LCC B765.N54 P535 2022 (print) | LCC B765.N54 (ebook) |  DDC 189/.5—dc23/eng/20211014 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021048761 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021048762 Typeface for the Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic scripts: “Brill”. See and download: brill.com/brill-typeface. issn 0920-8607 isbn 978-90-04-41250-7 (hardback) isbn 978-90-04-49956-0 (e-book) Copyright 2022 by Koninklijke Brill nv, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill nv incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Hotei, Brill Schöningh, Brill Fink, Brill mentis, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Böhlau Verlag and V&R Unipress. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. 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Paula Pico Estrada - 978-90-04-49956-0 To Alejandro Winograd, my husband, whose creativity, equanimity, and loving disposition are the foundations of everything I do ⸪ Paula Pico Estrada - 978-90-04-49956-0 Paula Pico Estrada - 978-90-04-49956-0 Contents Acknowledgments xi List of Abbreviations xiii Introduction 1 1 Previous Scholarship on Cusanus’ Conception of the Human Mind 3 1.1 The Structure of the Human Mind and Its Relation to Ethics 3 1.2 The Journey of the Human Mind and Its Relation to Mysticism 12 2 Contents and Approach 20 1 The Metaphysical Foundations of Human Nature 23 1 The Apparent Lack of Completion of the Universe 23 2 The Cosmological Need for Perfect Humanity 28 3 The Perfection of the Universe 30 3.1 The Predestination of Christ 30 3.2 Two Senses of the Name “Microcosm” 33 3.3 The Doctrine of Participation 34 3.4 Human Participation in Jesus Christ 36 3.5 Adoptive Filiation 42 4 Summary 45 2 The Innate Power of Judgment as the Human Mind’s Guiding Principle 47 1 De concordantia catholica (1433) 49 1.1 Liberum arbitrium concreatum (h xiv, n. 31) 49 1.2 Lex connata (h xiv, n. 127) 50 1.3 Connata principia: instinctum, appetitum aut rationem (h xiv, n. 268) 51 1.4 Clementia connata (h xiv, n. 465) 55 2 De docta ignorantia (1440) 55 2.1 Iudicium connatum (h i, n. 2) 55 2.2 Connaturales passiones (h i, n. 217) 57 2.3 Spiritus connaturalis (h i, n. 253) 59 3 Idiota. De sapientia (1450) 60 3.1 Praegustatio connaturata (h v, n. 11) 60 Paula Pico Estrada - 978-90-04-49956-0 viii Contents 4 Idiota. De mente (1450) 61 4.1 Iudicium concreatum, vis iudiciaria concreata, notiones concreatas (h v, nn. 74–78) 61 4.2 Vis concreata (h v, n. 149) 64 4.3 Aptitudo concreata (h v, n. 155) 65 4.4 Iiudicium mentis sibi concreatum (h v, n. 158) 67 4.5 Connata religio (h v, n. 159) 68 5 De pace fidei (1454) 70 5.1 Potentia connaturalis (h vii, n. 34) 70 5.2 Connatum desiderium and connata religio (h vii, n. 45) 71 5.3 Lumen concreatum (h vii, n. 59) 73 6 De ludo globi (1462) 75 6.1 Motus concreatus (h ix, n. 25) 75 7 De venatione sapientiae (1463) 77 7.1 Natura concreata (h xii, n. 10) 77 8 Summary 77 3 The Innate Knowledge of the Power of Judgment 80 1 Innatism in Idiota. De Mente 82 2 The Innatism of the Virtues 87 2.1 Compendium (1463) 87 2.2 Sermo VI (1431) 90 3 The Innate Power of Judgment and Intellectual Memory 96 3.1 Sermo CCXXXIII (1456) 96 3.2 De Aequalitate (1459) 99 3.3 Sermo CCLXXIII (1457) 101 4 Summary 103 4 Oneness: The Cognitive Dimension of the Innate Power of Judgment 105 1 The Limits of Human Knowledge 106 1.1 Learned Ignorance 106 1.2 Knowledge as Comparative Proportion 108 2 The Symbolic Procedure 110 3 The Mind as imago Dei 113 3.1 Alia est imago, alia explicatio 113 4 Triunity and Movement 115 4.1 Divine Triunity and Movement 115 4.2 The Human Mind’s Triunity and Movement 118 Paula Pico Estrada - 978-90-04-49956-0 Contents ix 5 To Know Is to Number 122 5.1 Senses, Reason and Intellect 122 6 Number, Freedom, and Creativity 126 7 Summary 130 5 Equality: The Social Dimension of the Innate Power of Judgment 132 1 The Principle of Self-Preservation 133 1.1 De concordantia Catholica (1433) 133 1.2 De docta ignorantia (1440) and De visione Dei (1453) 136 2 Triunity and Justice 139 2.1 Divine Triunity and Justice 139 2.2 The Human Mind’s Triunity and Justice 141 2.3 Equality as a Condition of Individual Action 143 2.4 Equality as a Condition of Social Organization 146 2.5 Dialogue and Truth 151 3 Body and Soul 156 3.1 Perpetual Intellectual Movement and Inert Matter 156 3.2 “Mind Is a Substantial Form” 159 4 Freedom 162 4.1 The Triunity of Love 163 4.2 Freedom and Freedom of Choice 164 4.3 Original Sin and the Limits of Human Freedom 167 4.4 Creation of Values 170 4.5 Sis tu tuus et ego ero tuus 173 5 Summary 175 6 Love: The Affective Dimension of the Innate Power of Judgment 176 1 Affectus in Cusanus’ Writings Previous to 1452 177 1.1 De docta ignorantia (1440) 177 1.2 De coniecturis (1442–1445) 180 1.3 De sapientia (1450) 184 2 The Debate over the Primacy of Intellectus or Affectus 188 2.1 Intellectus and Affectus in the Mystical Tradition 188 2.2 Intellectus and Affectus in Cusanus’ Letter Number 4 to Tegernsee’s Abbot 191 2.3 Sermo LVII: Sedete, quoadusque induamini virtute ex alto 195 2.4 Cusanus’ Letter Number 5 to Caspar Aindorffer 199 3 Faith 202 3.1 The Notion of Faith in De docta ignorantia iii, Chapter 11 (h i, n. 244) 205 Paula Pico Estrada - 978-90-04-49956-0 x Contents 4 Love 210 4.1 Letter Number 9 to Caspar Aindorffer (February 1454) 211 4.2 Sermo CCXLI Suadeo tibi emere a me aurum ignitum et probatum, ut locuplex fias (1456) and Letter Number 16 to Bernard of Waging (March 1454) 212 5 Summary 219 Conclusion 221 Bibliography 227 Index 236 Paula Pico Estrada - 978-90-04-49956-0