This volume offers a detailed historical background to Cusanus's thinking while also assaying his significance for the present. It brings together major contributions from the English-speaking world as well as voices from Europe.

In Nicolaus Cusanus on Faith and the Intellect, K.M. Ziebart argues convincingly that Cusanus’ epistemology was a direct response to late-medieval debates over the relation between faith and reason—one which sought to resolve these debates by introducing a controversially strong integration of philosophy and theology. By examining his works in the context of debates with his peers, Ziebart shows how and why Cusanus came to articulate a theory of knowledge in which faith is posited as inherent to the very structure of mind, as the vis iudiciaria, or power of judgment. This well-grounded study sheds new light on the Cusan philosophy and expands our view of a crucial, liminal period in European intellectual history.

The volume focuses on the relation between Cusanus and Aristotle or the Aristotelian tradition. In recent years the attention on this topic has partially increased, but overall the scholarship results are still partial or provisional. The book thus aims at verifying more systematically how Aristotle and Aristotelianism have been received by Cusanus, in both their philosophical and theological implications, and how he approached the Aristotelian thought. In order to answer these questions, the papers are structured according to the traditional Aristotelian sciences and their reflection on Cusanus' thought. This allows to achieve some aspects of interest and originality: 1) the book provides a general, but systematic analysis of Aristotle's reception in Cusanus' thought, with some coherent results. 2) Also, it explores how a philosopher and theologian traditionally regarded as Neoplatonist approached Aristotle and his tradition (including Thomas Aquinas), what he accepted of it, what he rejected, and what he tried to overcome. 3) Finally, the volume verifies the attitude of a relevant Christian philosopher and theologian of the Humanistic age towards Aristotle.

Known for his deeply mystical writings about Christianity, Nicholas of Cusa wrote this, his most popular work, against a backdrop of widespread Church corruption. God, he believed, is found in all things, and thus cannot be perceived by man's senses and intellect alone. The path to ultimate knowledge, then, begins in recognizing our own ignorance. Deeply influenced by Saint Augustine, Nicholas mixes the metaphysical with the personal to create a deeply felt work, first published in 1453, designed to restore faith in even the most jaded. A German cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, NICHOLAS OF CUSA (1401-1464) was a philosopher, jurist, mathematician, and astronomer. Also referred to as Nicolaus Cusanus and Nicholas of Kues, he is considered one of the great geniuses and polymaths of the 15th century. Among his other works are Writings on Church and Reform, Catholic Concordance, and Of Learned Ignorance.