Coincidence of opposites: Cusanian and non-Cusanian interpretations in the thought of Bruno

TY - JOUR

T1 - Coincidence of opposites

T2 - Cusanian and non-Cusanian interpretations in the thought of Bruno

AU - Catana, Leo

PY - 2011

Y1 - 2011

N2 - When Cusanus scholarship emerged in the nineteenth century, it conformed with the prevailing analytical requirements in the history of philosophy. Scholars strove to identify Cusanus' system of philosophy and its all-embracing principle, the coincidentia oppositorum. Bruno's texts were subjected to the same method. Cusanus' doctrine of coincidentia oppositorum thus became regarded as a crucial principle in Bruno's system of philosophy, and remains so until this day. In this article, the author argues that these historiographical requirements rest on an erroneous assumption, namely that pre-seventeenth- century thinkers intended to develop systems of philosophy. The article points out the distorting, interpretative consequences of this assumption in the case of Bruno.

AB - When Cusanus scholarship emerged in the nineteenth century, it conformed with the prevailing analytical requirements in the history of philosophy. Scholars strove to identify Cusanus' system of philosophy and its all-embracing principle, the coincidentia oppositorum. Bruno's texts were subjected to the same method. Cusanus' doctrine of coincidentia oppositorum thus became regarded as a crucial principle in Bruno's system of philosophy, and remains so until this day. In this article, the author argues that these historiographical requirements rest on an erroneous assumption, namely that pre-seventeenth- century thinkers intended to develop systems of philosophy. The article points out the distorting, interpretative consequences of this assumption in the case of Bruno.

M3 - Journal article

SN - 1125-3819

VL - XVII

SP - 381

EP - 400

JO - Bruniana e Campanelliana

JF - Bruniana e Campanelliana

IS - 2

ER -