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RESEARCH ARTICLE
A Quest at the Edge of Knowledge: Learned Ignorance in Nicholas of Cusa
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1 Necmettin Erbakan Üniversitesi, İlahiyat Fakültesi, Felsefe ve Din Bilimleri Bölümü 42090, Konya,
Türkiye
Received: 21 November 2025 | Published online: 10 March 2026
© 2026 by the Authors. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution -Noncommercial 4.0 International License (CC-by the license) ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ )
Abstract
Nicholas of Cusa’s doctrine of ‘learned ignorance’ (docta ignorantia) radically questions the structural limits of human knowledge. According to Cusanus, the human mind, due to its finite and conditional nature, cannot directly comprehend absolute truth (God). However, this limitation is not a deficiency, but rather the very path to wisdom. True wisdom begins with ‘knowing what one does not know.’ Cusanus argues that all human knowledge is a ‘conjecture’ (coniectura) and that truth can only be reached through an infinite process of approximation. Using geometric metaphors (circle-polygon) and the principle of ‘the unity of opposites’ (coincidentia oppositorum), he points to the need for the mind to transcend traditional patterns of logic. This approach brings an inherent critique of scholastic rationalism while also laying the groundwork for the critical stance of modern epistemology. In theology, he takes the tradition of negative theology to its extreme by arguing that God can only be indirectly indicated through negation.
Keywords
History of philosophy
medieval philosophy
Nicholas of Cusa
learned ignorance
unity of opposites.
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