Mathematics and theology in the thought of Nicholas of Cusa (Q2297961)

Nicholas of Cusa (Nikolaus Cusanus), 1401--1464, had wide interests, including natural science, mathematics, epistemology, and theology. This paper explores his views on the role of mathematical knowledge, the ontological status of mathematical objects such as numbers and shapes, and the relation of mathematical infinity to infinity in theology. For Nicholas, mathematics is a model of any system of knowledge, and is indispensable in any rational process because all thinking involves counting, measuring, and comparing. The numbers of mathematics are constructions of our minds, but are images of God's numbers. Infinity in mathematics involves a coincidence of opposites, and thereby can lead us towards theological infinity in which opposites coincide. An \(n\)-sided regular polygon approaches a circle as \(n\) approaches infinity, though a polygon is not a circle. A circle approaches a line tangent to it as the diameter of the circle approaches infinity, though a circle is not a line. The paper might have devoted more attention to the Christian Neo-Platonic sources of Nicholas's thought.