A MÍSTICA ESPECULATIVA A PARTIR DA METÁFORA DO OLHAR EM DE VISIONE DEI DE NICOLAU DE CUSA (1401-1464)
September 7, 2020 DOI: 10.25244/tf.v13i1.2402 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that Nicholas of Cusa's De visione dei offers a "guiding by hand" (Manuductio) that leads the Tegernsee monks from the finite, companionable gaze of the painted "Icon of God" to speculation on God's infinite, never-abandoning gaze, and that this reflexive path constitutes the mystical theology Nicholas proposed amid the fifteenth-century debate over affective versus intellectual contemplation. |
Abstract
This article explains the mystical-speculative experience that Nicholas of Cusa (1401-1464) proposes to the monks of Tegernsee to lead them to "sacred obscurity" or "mystical theology". The author was motivated by the prominent discussion from fifteenth century, about whether one should understand the contemplative view in a merely affective or intellectual way. This debate involved two major thinkers from both perspectives, Vicente de Aggsbach and Gerson, respectively. After an exchange of letters, Nicholas of Cusa sent to the Benedictine monks the De visione dei (1453) and a painting that represents "the figure of an omnivoyant" that he called "Icon of God". Thus, from the experience of looking at a painting, whose technique brings the peculiarity of the painted look accompany the one who looks at it, Nicholas leads them to speculating about the experience of the gaze of God that does not abandon and accompanies each and every one. Therefore, the path proposed in De visione dei is a true “guiding by hand” (Manuductio) so that monks, according to their abilities, reach the mystical experience: from the finite look of the painting to the infinite gaze that is the very God’s gaze. Therefore, the article, within the scope of the philosophy of Nicholas of Cusa, shows the reflexive path that starts from the experience of finitude until the highest and deepest speculation that man can make: contemplating the divine.