Deus Ludus: The Christocentric Games of Nicholas of Cusa and Blaise Pascal
Nicholas of Cusa and his daringly speculative theology seem odd matches for Blaise Pascal, the constant critic of the philosophies en vogue during his life. A commonality they share is their mutual concern for the apparent disproportion between the infinite God and the finite human. In this paper, I...
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| Medienart: | Elektronisch Aufsatz |
| Sprache: | Englisch |
| Verfügbarkeit prüfen: | HBZ Gateway |
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| Veröffentlicht: |
Wiley-Blackwell
2023
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| In: |
Heythrop journal
Jahr: 2023, Band: 64, Heft: 4, Seiten: 489-502 |
| RelBib Classification: | FA Theologie NBC Gotteslehre NBE Anthropologie NBF Christologie VA Philosophie |
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| Zusammenfassung: | Nicholas of Cusa and his daringly speculative theology seem odd matches for Blaise Pascal, the constant critic of the philosophies en vogue during his life. A commonality they share is their mutual concern for the apparent disproportion between the infinite God and the finite human. In this paper, I compare and analyse the shape this question takes in Cusanus's De ludo globi and Pascal's Pensées. Both men observe a sort of ‘ludic’ character inherent to the pursuit of bridging finite and infinite. Cusanus's ‘ball game’ realises the universe and the human being's pursuit of salvation as a circular field in which the player seeks to reach the vanishing point of its centre. Pascal likewise portrays human life as a cosmic game that everyone must ‘play’ with their ethical decisions. Ultimately, they both come to register Christ as the agent and object of their games, the divine player who fashions finitude into infinity. I conclude by sketching a way to reconcile Pascal with natural theology based on his universal game. |
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| ISSN: | 1468-2265 |
| Enthält: | Enthalten in: Heythrop journal
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1111/heyj.14216 |