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The Concept of Contraction in Bruno's Philosophy

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T h e c o n c e p t o f contraction IN B r u n o ’s p h il o s o p h y Dissertation submitted to the University of London in fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy By Leo Catana Italian Department University College London 2002 ProQuest Number: U642202 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest. ProQuest U642202 Published by ProQuest LLC(2015). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 A b s t r a c t The first part of this thesis describes the concept of contraction, in its ontological and noetic interpretations, as it is used in the philosophy of Giordano Bruno (1548-1600). Bruno denied the efficacy of the several psychical, psychological and medical states traditionally thought to aid contemplation and noetic ascent. The only means in his view was philosophical contemplation. Philosophical contemplation elevated the mind from the fragmented multiplicity of sense impressions to an understanding of the principles governing the sensible world. He denied that the human mind could attain ecstasy and transcend the plurality of the Mind or World Soul in the senses in which he understood those terms. Noetic ascent followed in reverse order the ontological descent from the intelligible to the sensible realm. The multiplicity of the intelligible and sensible universe occurred by virtue of the contraction of the infinite, universal, substance. The two principles of the universe, form and matter, were ‘contracted’ to produce sensible multiplicity. Matter was individuated or contracted through form, and form through matter. In this ontological sense of the term, ‘contraction’ is an integral part of Bruno’s principle of individuation. In Bruno’s philosophy, contraction in the noetic interpretation denotes a concatenating function of the human mind. The objects of this concatenation are concepts and intentions, which are likenesses of the sensible world as perceived via the senses or summoned by memory. In both instances intentionality is important. One of the most important methods of noetic ascent was memory. Bruno’s memory theory derives largely from Plotinus (ca. 205-270) and the interpretation of Plotinus given by Marsilio Ficino ( 1433-1499). His account of contraction in relation to memory reflects these sources. The second part of this thesis discusses the sources for Bruno’s ideas of contraction. Frances Yates, Alfonso Ingegno and other scholars have suggested various sources for Bruno’s concept of contraction as a method of noetic ascent, notably, in relation to physiological contractions of humours andspiritus. This interpretation does not, however, take into account Bruno’s reservations towards noetic ascent facilitated through medical contractions, and it ignores his insistence on defining contraction in the noetic interpretation in parallel with the ontological interpretation of the term. More persuasive is the argument proposed by Franz Clemens, Sandro Mancini and Filippo Mignini, who propose that Bruno derived his concept of contraction, in its ontological sense, from Nicholas of Cusa (1401-1464). Contraction was an important concept in Cusanus’ philosophy and theology. Bruno certainly knew the works, notably the De docta ignorantia, in which Cusanus uses ‘contraction’. But this interpretation ignores the possibility that Bruno and Cusanus might have drawn on common sources, namely, medieval scholastic commentaries on theLiber de cousis. One probable common source is Giles of Rome, also called Aegidio Romano or Aegidio Colonna (ca. 1243-1316). Several features of Bruno’s discussion of ‘contraction’ suggest strongly that he drew on these medieval sources, in particular Giles. Bruno adapted the interpretations of contraction that he found in Cusanus and these medieval commentaries to the needs of his unorthodox philosophy. Co n t e n t s Abbreviations 7 Citations 9 Acknowledgements 10 Introduction 11 P a r t o n e B r u n o ’s c o n c e p t o f contraction Ch. 1. Methods facilitating noetic ascent 1. Bruno on heroic ascent 15 2. The fifteen contractions in theSigillus sigillorum 17 (i) Contraction produced by solitude 17 (ii) Contraction produced by restricting imagination to a place 19 (iii) Contraction of the horizon into the centre 19 (iv) Contraction producing divine dreams, visions and revelations 24 (v) Contraction produced by faith 26 (vi) Contraction produced by filial piety 30 (vii) Contraction produced by fear 30 (viii) Contraction ofspiritus produced by fear 31 (ix) Contraction produced by an intensity of desire 32 (x) Contraction produced by restriction of number of sense organs used 33 (xi) Contraction produced by melancholy 33 (xii) Contraction produced by starvation 34 (xiii) Contraction producing levitation 36 (xiv) Contraction produced by malnutrition 38 (xv) Contraction practised by philosophers 39 3. Heroi c practice in the f ifteen contracti ons and its theory 39 4. The double contraction 41 Ch. 2. Contraction as an ontological concept 1. Bruno’s discussion of ontological contraction 47 2. The metaphysical context of contraction 49 3. The World Soul 56 4. Matter 62 (i) Sources for Bruno’s concept of matter 63 (ii) Contraction produced by matter 70 (iii) The cosmological role of contraction produced by matter 72 5. Coincidence of opposites 74 Ch. 3. Contraction and noesis 1. What is contraction produced by noetic ascent? 78 2. Philosophical anthropology and contraction by noetic ascent 81 3. Abstraction and intention 84 (i) Abstraction through “ten or twelvedeterminatd" 85 (ii) Intention 89 4. Contraction in the Eroicifiirori 93 5. Bruno’s criticism of noesis induced by melancholy: its consequences for love poetry and theology 98 Ch. 4. Contraction and memory 1. Interpretations of Bruno’s idea of memory 106 2. Plotinus’ discussion of Aristotle’s doctrine on memory 109 3. Plotinus on the twofold memory 113 4. Bruno’s stance towards Aristotle’s and Plotinus’ theories of memory 118 5. Bruno’s use of Plotinus’ idea on noetic ascent through memory 123 6. Bruno’s treatment of the Golden Chain 125 P a r t TWO S o u r c e s o f B r u n o ’s c o n c e p t o f contraction Ch. 5. Physiologically induced contraction 1. Ficino’s notion of physiologically induced contraction 135 2. Bruno’s criticism of physiologically induced contraction 141 3. Interpretations of Bruno’s fifteen contractions in theSigillus sigillorum 149 Ch. 6. The scholastic tradition of contraction 1. The historical background of the Liber de causis 155 2. Contraction and the doctrines of theLiber de causis 162 3. Essence contracted into existence 170 (i) Pseudo-Henry 170 (ii) Aquinas 172 (iii) Giles 176 (iv) Pico 179 (v) Bruno 180 4. Superior intelligences contracted into inferior intelligences 181 5. Matter contracted by form 186 6. Matter and form contracted interdependently 188 Ch. 7. Cusanus and the scholastic tradition of contraction 1. Interpretations of the relationship between Cusanus and Bruno 192 2. Bruno’s explicit references to Cusanus 197 3. Cusanus and the scholastic tradition of contraction 201 4. Cusanus’ contribution to Bruno’s concept of contraction 214 5. Cusanus’ Christology 217 6. Bruno’s criticism of orthodox Christology 221 Conclusion 224 Bibliography 229 Appendix I. Teofilo da Vairano and Giles of Rome 260 Appendix II. Index of primary sources 263 A bbreviations B&C Bruniana & Campanelliana. BOeuC Giordano Bruno,Oeuvres complètes, general eds Y. Hersant and N. Ordine, vol. 1-. Les Belles Lettres: Paris, 1993-. BOL Giordano Bruno,Opera latine conscripta, eds F. Fiorentino, F. Tocco, H. Vitelli, V. Imbriani, C. M. Tallarigo, 3 vols in 8 pts. Morano and Le Monnier: Naples and Florence, 1879- 1891. (Anastatic reprint: Stuttgart, Bad Cannstatt, 1961- 1962.) BOM Giordano Bruno,Opere maglche, general ed. M. Ciliberto, eds, tr. and notes by S. Bassi, E. Scapparone, N. Tirinnanzi, intro. M. Ciliberto. Adelphi: Milan, 2000. CHLGEMP The Cambridge history of later Greek and early medieval philosophy, ed. A. H. Armstrong. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 1967. CHLMP The Cambridge history of later medieval philosophy. From the rediscovery of Aristotle to the disintegration of scholasticism 1100-1600, eds N. Kretzmann, A. Kenny and J. Pinborg. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 1982. CHRP The Cambridge history of Renaissance philosophy, general ed. C. B. Schmitt, eds Q. Skinner, B. Kessler and J. Kraye. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 1988. COO Nicholas of Cusa, Opera omnia, eds E. Hoffmann, R. Klibansky et al., vol. 1-. F. Meiner: Leipzig and Hamburg, 1932-. 7 DS Dictionnaire de spiritualité, ascétique et mystique, doctrine et histoire, ed M. Viller et al., vol. 1-. Beauchesne: Paris, 1937-. GCFI Giornale critico deltafdosofia italiana. JWCI Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes. MFCG Mitteilungen und Forschungsbeitrage der Cusanus- Gesellschaft. NRL Nouvelles de la République des Lettres. PG Patrologiae cursus completus, series graeca, ed. J. P. Migne, 162 vols. Paris, 1857-1912. PL Patrologiae cursus completus, series (latina) prima, tà. J. P. Migne, 221 vols. Paris, 1844-1864. RCSF Rivista critica di storia déliafilosofia. REP Routledge encyclopedia of philosophy, general ed. E. Craig. 10 vols. Routledge: London and New York, 1998. 8 Cit a t io n s In quotations from fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Latin texts, I have expanded abbreviations, changed to ‘et’, ‘u’ to ‘v’ and vice versa to distinguish respectively vocalic and consonantal ‘u’, omitted accents, and changed ‘j ’ uniformly to ‘i’.
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