The Reception of the Proclean Notion Authypóstaton in Nicholas of Cusa

Abstract

In this paper I analize the notion of authypóstaton in Nicolás of Cusa's treatise De Principio (1459). I will specifically explore Cusanus' interpretation of this concept based on his direct access to Proclus’ Elementatio Theologica and In Parmenidem, i.e., two Proclean works in their Latin version. I will claim that Nicholas displaced the notion of authypóstaton from the domain of henads to that of the first principle. Thus, it becomes both an intellectual and a supra-intellectual principle. However, the assimilation of this notion by Cusanus shows that he was consciously enrolled in that philosophical tradition