Duns Scotus

by Richard Cross

This is an accessible introduction to the life and thought of John Duns Scotus (c. 1266-1308), the scholastic philosopher and theologian who came to be called the Subtle Doctor. A native of Scotland (as his name implies), Scotus became a Franciscan and taught in Oxford, Paris, and Cologne. In his writings he put Aristotelian thought to the service of Christian theology and was the founder of a school of scholasticism called Scotism, which was often opposed to the Thomism of the followers of Thomas Aquinas. In particular, Scotus is well known for his defense of contra-causal free will and logical possibility and for his account of individuation in terms of "haecceity" or "thisness."

Cross offers a clear introductory account of the most significant aspects of Scotus's theological thought. Theology is here construed broadly to include Scotus's philosophical investigation of God's existence and attributes. In addition to providing a clear, though not always uncritical, outline of Scotus's positions, Cross aims to show how Scotus's theories fit into modern debates, particularly contemporary debates in philosophical theology, and to point out Scotus's historical significance in the development of theology.

Genres: Philosophy, Theology

272 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1999

About the author

There is more than one person with this name in the Goodreads catalog. This entry is for Richard ^ Cross.

Richard Cross is John A. O'Brien Professor of Philosophy. He came to Notre Dame in 2007, having been a Fellow of Oriel College in the University of Oxford from 1993 to 2007. He specializes in medieval philosophy and theology, with a particular focus on Duns Scotus. He is currently at work on a multi-volume history of the metaphysics of Christology. A preliminary volume on Aquinas to Scotus appeared in 2002. Recently, he has published volumes on Reformation Christological Debates (OUP, 2019), and The Metaphysics of Christology in the Seventeenth Century (OUP, 2022). In press or in progress are three more volumes, one on discussions from Ockham to Biel; one on Early Scholastic Christology; and a final one on Latin Christology in late antiquity and the early middle ages. He is also preparing a critical edition of different versions of Peter Auriol's commentary on book 3 of the Sentences.

Reviews

[Aid · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was great, I really like Scotus' account of divine simplicity and the Trinity which is far more coherent than other models I've seen. His views on free will were interesting but hard to understand and implausible to me.

Richard Cross makes everything clear and easy to follow which isn't easy considering how short the book is and how difficult a thinker Scotus is. I'd highly recommend the book to anyone interested in a brief introduction to Scotus.

[Joel Zartman · Rating 3 out of 5]

In which Richard Cross explains Duns Scotus and maintains that strictly speaking Scotus was not a voluntarist.

[Bethany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Richard Cross presents a helpful and fairly in-depth overview of Duns Scotus' theology. It isn't hero-worship, though, by any means, instead presenting a decently balanced perspective.

[Dominic Foo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I gave this book four stars mainly for its pedagogical value rather than its contents. It is a simple book which nicely interprets and presents the writings of the Blessed Doctor for non-specialist readership, no easy task for the aptly named "Subtle Doctor"! The author does a great job clarifying the arguments as much as possible, but even then it would still need quite a bit or mental effort to follow the twists and turns of the argument, but that is more of a feature of the Subtle Doctor's writings which no interpreter can evade.

The author is also not afraid to give his opinion too and littered throughout the book is his own commentary on the Subtle Doctor's writing, agreeing or disagreeing, pointing out strengths and weaknesses in Scotus's writings and suggesting ways to firm up his argument.

But I believe that the most valuable contribution of this book is that it presents not only Duns Scotus's metaphysical writings but also his theological writings about predestination, merit, original sin, redemption, Christology and the Sacraments, which I think have been very sadly neglected as I think that Duns Scotus has much to contribute theologically and this book provides a good balance to the overt emphasis on the philosophical aspects of his thought. (But then again as a Protestant I would naturally have a very keen interest in this medieval forefather of Protestantism)

Also, I find his interpretation of Duns Scotus's "divine voluntarianism" of ethics interesting. Cross denies that Scotus subscribes to a "divine command" theory of ethics, by which he means that Cross argues that Scotus does not argue that what is moral is simply what God commands. But then he goes on to argue that while created human nature does provide the framework for understanding what is good or moral "ordinarily", but God is maximally free and can in fact contingently command contrary to "ordinary" goodness and morality, and thus God's sovereignty can in fact overwrite morality and command this which are contrary to human nature, i.e. Abraham's Sacrifice, the deception of Rahab, the despoiling of the Egyptians, etc.

I find this intriguing in that this view I believe is actually much closer to Lutheran view than the standard divine command theories. The problem with the standard divine command theories is that they are not, paradoxically, challenging enough. The standard divine command theories simply become nothing more than a "religious ornament" to dress up what everyone or the world considers to be moral. Whereas Cross's reading of Duns Scotus suggests that the world and philosophical wisdom can form its own conception of the common good and morality based on observations of human nature (Melanchthon's teaching that we have freewill with regards to "things below" or civic works), but God is above this philosophical common good and is maximally free and particularistic about its own uniqueness and can will or command as he please, even against what is humanly good or moral, wherein comes the "existential crisis" of Abraham and Job wherein the particularity of God clashes with the generality of the human good. If Cross's reading of Duns Scotus is right, then I find myself in hearty agreement with the good Subtle Doctor.

My only criticism would be that I wish that the book covered more theological topics with greater depth and also that I find it odd that the book neglected to discuss the issues of universalism and nominalism which is normally considered one of the central highlights of Duns Scotus's thought, but then again, I guess there is only so much one can cover in 140 pages. But otherwise, a very easy and enlightening read.