Duns Scotus: Philosophical Writings

by John Duns Scotus

The philosophical writings of Duns Scotus, one of the most influential philosophers of the Later Middle Ages, are here presented in a volume that presents the original Latin with facing page English translation.


  Foreword to the Second Edition. Preface. Introduction. Select Bibliography.

I. Concerning Metaphysics
II. Man’s Natural Knowledge of God
III. The Existence of God
IV. The Unicity of God
V. Concerning Human Knowledge
VI. The Spirituality and Immortality of the Human Soul

Notes. Index of Proper Names. Index of Subjects.

Genres: Philosophy, Theology, Religion, Christianity, Nonfiction, Medieval, Classics

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1961

About the author

John Duns, commonly called Duns Scotus (c. 1266 – 1308), is generally considered to be one of the three most important philosopher-theologians of the High Middle Ages. Scotus has had considerable influence on both Catholic and secular thought. The doctrines for which he is best known are the "univocity of being," that existence is the most abstract concept we have, applicable to everything that exists; the formal distinction, a way of distinguishing between different aspects of the same thing; and the idea of haecceity, the property supposed to be in each individual thing that makes it an individual. Scotus also developed a complex argument for the existence of God, and argued for the Immaculate Conception of Mary.

Duns Scotus was given the scholastic accolade Doctor Subtilis (Subtle Doctor) for his penetrating and subtle manner of thought. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1993.

Reviews

[Erick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scotus, Ockham and Aquinas are probably the big three of Scholastic thought. If one doesn’t have some knowledge of Aristotle’s works, and if one doesn’t know the context of medieval philosophical debates, Scholasticism loses much of its appeal and force as philosophy. Even with those things, I wouldn’t describe it as the most engaging philosophy available. As I’ve mentioned before, the Scholastics being so dependent on Aristotle caused them to inherit some of his pedantism and dryness.

There’s not much here that I necessarily took issue with, nor much that I found all that novel or compelling, either. For those interested in Scholasticism, or those interested in philosophy in general, one probably should be acquainted with Scotus. He was influential. I can’t help but not be that taken with the debates and philosophical dialogue surrounding Aristotle that was taking place at the time. Maybe at some point I’ll change my position on that, but for now, I’ve read most of this stuff to increase my knowledge of philosophy in general. It wasn’t because I am particularly taken with the subject matter. The over dependence on Aristotle and his terminology causes one to feel like his authority as a philosopher went largely unquestioned for quite a long time. I think when one uses one philosopher's terminology almost exclusively, one can seem almost slavish and uninspired. I recognize how pioneering Aristotle was in his day and maybe some time after that, but it just seems baffling that he was still considered innovative more than a millennia later.

I would give this around 3-and-a-half stars. With context it fares better, but I must admit that it's just not that engaging.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

All of postcolonial theory is really a footnote to Scotus.

[Illiterate · Rating 3 out of 5]

The highlight is Scotus’ argument that natural philosophy is prior to metaphysics (essay 1). Natural theology doesn’t particularly interest me but his is well done.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started reading Scotus for a class at church. I was deeply intrigued by his philosophy and theology, which is an attempt to give the Franciscan charism and world-view an intellectual framework. His discussions of will, creation, and ethics are worth reading and considering, especially for those looking for an alternative to Thomism.

[Krit Chanwong · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dense

[Joseph Myers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Recherché high scholasticism. Some illuminations:

"The intellect prescinds from all determinations to form a simple concept of being, undetermined but determinable. The concept of being that applies to God, however, negates all determinations and therefore is called negatively undetermined being."

"We have no quidditative concept of substance caused immediately by substance itself. Only our quidditative concept thereof is that caused by, or first abstracted from, an accident, and this is none other than the concept of being."

"The finite character of the angelic essence is something that is prior by nature to its existence. Consequently, it is not its subsequent existence that makes such an essence limited. Every finite essence is such absolutely prior to any reference it may have to another essence."

[Michal Paszkiewicz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite a quick read, with some excellent thought (especially for its time). I was especially interested in Scotus' treatment of universals, but I found it quite hard to actually discover what his thought was. A lot of understanding has to be gained from the subtext in this book and a lot of the sentences can be key phrases that hide a lot of meaning while discussing an issue one may find uninteresting.

[Isaac Price-Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was decent. Having the original Latin in there seemed rather unnecessary and just doubled the size of the book, but oh well. Certainly a useful text for understanding the philosophers who came after him, but I didn’t find the arguments he makes particularly persuasive, though they were intriguing. No mention of the haecceity though, which was half the reason I wanted to read Scotus in the first place

[LaMarx · Rating 2 out of 5]

He takes God and his logical system for granted. It is a radical reformulation, but a reformulation nonetheless. I simply don't believe in any uncreated thing. It's just nonsensical. Dealing with uniquely European concerns over distinctly European problems.
No more concepts. We've had enough of them. High time to take the middle way.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very useful compendium of the core of Duns Scotus' thinking on God, metaphysics, and epistemology, but the best thing is that Wolter includes the original Latin. Can't recommend this book highly enough to anyone who loves philosophy.

[Dennis Ganahl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Father Wolter was the world's most renowned Scotus scholar at the time his books were written. In fact Pope John Paul II used Wolter's writings to support Scotus' nomination and affirmation for sainthood. It's a dense read about a provocative philosopher.

[Derek Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Obviously brilliant, but not exactly high literature.

[Maggie · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this author was at least able to appeal to Scripture as an authority, medieval reason continues to run wild.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good if you can slug through it and are interested in this sort of thing

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

An important anthology of the first great medieval philosopher to work after the Condemnation of 1277.

[Timothy Jasko]

You'd best be well-versed in scholasticism and Aristotle before attempting this one. I was not.