Nicholas of Cusa and Ibn 'Arabi: Two Philosophies of Mysticism
Philosophy East and West 1993 DOI: 10.2307/1399469 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Mysticism |
| Citations | 20 |
| Key points | Argues that Nicholas of Cusa and Ibn 'Arabi share a common philosophical basis in two linked assertions: God is indefinable, and the world is not God but is not anything other than God. Contends that the mystical tradition, European and Islamic, gave these assertions an uncommon sense and was distinguished by closely linking them. |
Abstract
The common basis underlying a philosophical exploration of Nicholas of Cusa and Ibn 'ArabT could perhaps be presented in the form of two closely linked assertions: first, the thesis that God is indefinable, and, second, a formula which states that the world is not God but is not anything other than God. These assertions were certainly not unknown to medieval thinkers, but it was the mystical tradition (European as well as Islamic) that gave them rather uncommon sense. What distinguished the mystics also was their close, perhaps unbroken, linking of these two assertions.