Bruno is the first thinker who based the soul's duty to itself on its own nature: not on external authority, but on inner light... Of Bruno, as of Spinoza, it may be said that he was 'God-intoxicated.' He felt that the Divine Excellence had its abode in the very heart of Nature and within his own body and spirit. Indwelling in every dewdrop as in the innumerable host of heaven, in the humblest flower and in the mind of man, he found the living spirit of God, setting forth the Divine glory, making the Divine perfection and inspiring with the Divine love. The Eroici is full of the pantings of his soul for intellectual enfranchisement and contact with Truth, the divine object.... The heroic soul, says Bruno, shall seek truth and find it. The time had not then come for Pilate's question to be put again. Bruno was happily unvexed by the problem of truth... there is a view implicit in the Eroici and in all but the earliest of his philosophical writings, and this is that our truth is a progressive, ideal approximation towards that whole Truth which is one with the inmost nature of Being.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Bruno grounded duty in inner nature rather than external authority, seeing God in all of nature.
- In plain terms
- He found truth inside himself and in nature, not just in church rules.
- What can you take from it?
- Look inward and to nature for moral guidance rather than relying on authority.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Where does duty come from?
- Is truth internal or external?
Another view
Relying solely on inner light can lead to subjective moral confusion.
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