Ethical Implications of Unity and Divine in Ncholas of Cusa

includes index and biblioraphy

PARTI. THE NA TURE OF UNITY AND THE DIVINE CHAPTER I. THE BACKGROUND OF THE CONCEPT OF UNITY IN NICHOLAS OF CUSA The Concept of Unity - The Development of Unity - Unity in the Totemic Context - Unity in the Mythic Context - Unity in the Philosophical Context - Unity and Contemporary Thought The Formation of the Thought of Nicholas of Cusa - Medieval Platonism and Aristotelianism - Minor Influences on Cusa`s Thought - Religious Mysticism - Nominalism - Humanism - The Life of Cusa The Method of This Work -The Format of This Work CHAPTER II. THE DYNAMISM OF BEING AND UNITY The Structure of Being for Cusa - Act and Potency in Cusa`s Thought - Matter and Form in Cusa`s Thought - The Contraction of Being - The Principles of Community and Individuality vi Unity and the Divine in Nicholas of Cusa The Implications of Formal Causality The Unity of Being - The Four Kinds of Unity in Cusa`s Thought - Individual Unity - Contracted Unity ~ The Unity of the Universe -- Absolute Unity Unity and the Hierarchy of Being - Human Nature and the Hierarchy of Being - Cusa`s Interpretation of the Chain of Being ~ The Trinity as a Paradigm for Cusa`s Interpretation of Being The Nature of Knowledge for Cusa - Discursive Reasoning - Intellection CHAPTER III. THE NATURE OF THE DIVINE Absolute Unity and the Coincidence of Opposites - The Nature of Absolute Unity - The Coincidence of the Maximum and the Minimum - Interpreting the Coincidence ofOpposites Human Knowledge of the Divine - The Limitations of Human Knowledge of the Divine - Cusa`s Appraisal of Traditional Theological Approaches - Naming the Absolute - Possest -- Not-Other Metaphors and Paradoxes of the Divine - The Importance of Metaphors - Metaphors for the Absolute - The Infinite Line -- The Infinite Triangle - The Unity of the Circle -- The Omnivoyant ~ The Top Spinning at Infinite Velocity - Interpreting Cusa`s Metaphors CHAPTER IV. THE UNFOLDING FROM DIVINE UNITY Being as the Dynamic Emanation From the Divine - The Nature of Creation - The Problem of Pantheism - The Relationship Between the Finite and the Infinite The Orientation of Being Toward the Divine - The Universe`s Return to the Divine - Man as Microcosm - The Role of the Incarnation The Diversity of Finite Being and Its Proclamation of the Divine CHAPTER V. ETHICAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE UNFOLDING FROM THE DIVINE UNITY The Relationship of Unity and Ethics - The Relativist Perspective - The Classical Greek Perspective ~ The Platonic View -The Aristotelian View - The Cusan Perspective viii Unity and the Divine in Nicholas ofCusa The Human Person and the Natural World - The Unfolding of the Divine and the Creative Capacity of Human Rationality - Creativity and Responsibility Individuality and Social Cohesion - The Advantages of Diversity - The Nature of Tolerance in Cusa`s Thought ~ The Social Implications of Cusa`s Understanding of Tolerance Freedom and Compulsion - Human Freedom - The Social Implications of Human Freedom The Status of Evil - Cusa and the Traditional Concept of Evil PARTII. A CUSANAPPROACH TO SOME CONTEMPORARY ISSUES -Outline of Part II - The Role of Love in Cusa`s Thought CHAPTER VI. A CUSAN APPROACH TO RELIGIOUS UNITY Interpreting the Diversity of Religious Faiths - Six Responses to Religious Diversity - Diversity and Tolerance - A Cusan Approach to Diversity Religious Unity and Ecumenism - Possible Approaches to Ecumenism - Interactionism and Ecumenism Contents Religious Unity and Evangelization - Possible Approaches to Evangelization - A Cusan Approach to Evangelization CHAPTER VII. A CUSAN APPROACH TO SOCIAL UNITY Social Unity in a National Context - The Existence of the Person in Society - The Nature of Society - A Cusan Approach to the Per