In his treatise De Venatione Sapientiae , Nicholas of Cusa explained the Platonic doctrine of ideas as follows:
“Ideas are not separated from individuals in such a way as to be extrinsic exemplars. For the individual’s nature is united to the Idea itself, from which it has all these [endowments] naturally. Laërtius said that Plato maintained that the Idea is both one and many, both stationary and moved. For insofar as it is an incorruptible specific form, it is intelligible and one; but insofar as it is united to many individuals, Plato spoke of it as many. Likewise, Plato said it to be fixed and stationary insofar as it is unalterable and intelligible; but he spoke of it as moved insofar as it is united to movable things. Proclus explains more fully that essential beginnings are intrinsic and not extrinsic and that through the contact whereby the individual is united to its Idea, it is in contact with the Divinity by way of that intelligible Idea, so that an individual, in accordance with its capability, exists in the best way in which it can exist and be conserved. Moreover, Laërtius reports that Plato speaks of Ideas as the beginnings of those things which exist by nature, so that [because of these beginnings] those things are the kinds of things they are.”
As Cusa says, “If these [Platonic teachings] are properly understood, then perhaps they are not as much opposed to the truth as inept interpreters of Plato have suggested.”
For those who are interested, many of Cusa’s works are available in English translation at www.cla.umn.edu/sites/jhopkins .
Dear Reader,
Can I be direct with you?
War abroad. Socialists on the rise. AI upending human life. Endless uproar online. The modern attention economy doesn’t want readers — it wants users enslaved to the tyranny of the present.
First Things is the antidote: literary excellence, timeless truths, and a fixed point of reference in a culture that has lost its bearings.
But we can’t do it without readers like you.
Our goal: Raise $150,000 by November 1 to sustain First Things in the year ahead.
Your gift anchors readers in the permanent things.
Make your Fall Campaign gift now using the button below.
If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Giovanni Del Piero, Director of the Editor’s Circle, at gdelpiero@firstthings.com or 212-627-1985.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
The Church in the Age of Therapy
In 1966, Philip Rieff wrote in The Triumph of the Therapeutic that “Religious man was born to…
Canada’s Deadliest Blind Spot
On September 20, the Daily Mail ran a story with the provocative headline, “Our 83-year-old Christian grandmother…
The Faithful Joy of Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen
Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen seem to have had little in common. She favored rhinestones; he wore…
