The Elephant in the Room: Nicholas of Cusa and the Mystical Basis for Pluralism

In the past few decades, a growing body of literature focused on the ‘return of religion’ has added important nuance to the discussion of pluralism, religion, and violence. This paper explores these postsecular critiques through the ancient parable of the Blind People and the Elephant. It argues that secularism maintains an ontology that assumes violence which forecloses the possibility of pluralism. Recent reappraisals of mysticism are at pains to highlight its ethical and political implications. This paper puts these bodies of literature in conversation to offer a mystical basis for pluralist ethics. To this end, a particular western Christian mystic, Nicholas of Cusa, in his work The Vision of God (1453) is shown to provide a theoretical and ethical basis for pluralism. The decision to focus on his mystical work The Vision of God is because the metatheoretical question of pluralism is addressed here in how unity with the divine means unity between the members of a community, which is worked out in an ethical practice of dialogue. By engaging Cusa’s mysticism in the context of postsecular critical theory, an alternate basis for pluralism is offered that sharply contrasts with that offered by secularism.