All thinkers

Theologian · Medieval

Bl. John Duns Scotus

c. 1266–1308 · Scotism

Blessed Latin

Beatified 1993 by St. John Paul II; Doctor Subtilis, Doctor Marianus.

Franciscan master at Oxford and Paris, Scotus argued for the univocity of the concept of being, the formal distinction, individuation by “haecceity,” and the primacy of the will over the intellect in beatitude. He gave the decisive argument for the Immaculate Conception (Mary preserved from sin by a more perfect redemption) and held that the Incarnation was willed by God before and apart from the Fall.

Why he matters: His Marian theology became dogma in 1854, and Scotism stood beside Thomism for centuries as a legitimate Catholic school; his voluntarism, moderated and orthodox, is the hinge between the high scholastics and the nominalists.

Where to be careful

Univocity of being and the stress on the divine will were pushed by later thinkers (Ockham) into errors Scotus himself did not hold; his subtlety repays, but demands, careful reading.

Reading

  • A Treatise on God as First Principle
    Bl. John Duns Scotus (trans. Allan Wolter) · His proof of God, systematically laid out.
    Journal
  • Duns Scotus on the Will and Morality
    ed. Allan Wolter, OFM · Texts on freedom, natural law and the divine will.
    Journal
  • Duns Scotus
    Richard Cross · A clear introduction (Great Medieval Thinkers).
    Journal

Documented positions

Where this thinker stands on each dispute the test covers.

Settled teaching Its center Open question Beyond teaching, not condemned Condemned error
I

God and Being · What is, and whence it is.

Can reason know that God exists? Natural theology
Fideism or agnosticism Natural theology
How is God related to the world? Creation from nothing
Pantheism or emanation Creation from nothing
Is the world governed by purpose? Providence and final causes
Chance and mechanism Providence and final causes
Do natures and essences really exist? Realism
Nominalism Realism
God's essence and His energies Absolute simplicity
Essence–energies distinction Absolute simplicity
How should we speak of God? Cataphatic (analogical) way
Apophatic (negative) way Cataphatic (analogical) way
Is 'being' said of God and of creatures in the same sense? Univocity of being
Analogy of being Univocity of being
How does creation speak of God? A book of signs and vestiges
Natures studied in their own right A book of signs and vestiges
II

Faith, Reason and Truth · How we know, and whom we trust.

Faith and reason: who has the last word? Fideism
Rationalism Fideism
Where does knowledge begin? Senses and abstraction
Senses and abstraction Illumination and innate ideas
Is truth objective? Objective truth
Relativism and pragmatism Objective truth
Who interprets revelation? Living Tradition and Magisterium
Private judgment Living Tradition and Magisterium
What is theology for? A wisdom ordered to loving
A science ordered to knowing A wisdom ordered to loving
Does doctrine develop? Between
Always the same, in the same words A living development
Are the world's learning and arts a danger or a gift? A gift to be baptized
A danger: Athens has nothing to do with Jerusalem A gift to be baptized
III

The Human Person · Soul, body, freedom and the Fall.

Is there a spiritual soul? Immortal spiritual soul
Mind is brain Immortal spiritual soul
Is the body really you? Body–soul unity
Dualism Body–soul unity
Are you free? Free will
Determinism Free will
How fallen is human nature? Between
Totally depraved Basically good
Does nature desire God? Natural desire for the vision of God
Pure nature Natural desire for the vision of God
Marriage, sex and the body's meaning Given by nature and grace
Given by nature and grace Defined by consent and identity
What makes you this one and no other? A positive thisness (haecceity)
This matter, this body A positive thisness (haecceity)
What is suffering for? Between
An evil to be relieved A share in the Cross
IV

The Moral Life · Law, virtue, conscience and the good.

Is morality objective and knowable? Natural law
Relativism Natural law
Why is the good good? Divine command (voluntarism)
Divine command (voluntarism) Eternal law (intellectualism)
Are some acts always wrong? Intrinsically evil acts
Consequentialism Intrinsically evil acts
Rules or character? Morality of virtue and beatitude
Morality of obligation Morality of virtue and beatitude
What is happiness? Beatitude in God
Earthly flourishing Beatitude in God
What is heaven's happiness, at its heart? The will's love and enjoyment of God
The intellect's vision of God The will's love and enjoyment of God
V

Grace and Salvation · How God saves, and whom.

How does grace move the will? Molinist
Thomist (Bañezian) Molinist
How are we made right with God? Infused, transforming grace
Forensic imputation Infused, transforming grace
What is salvation for? Deification
Pardon and escape Deification
Would the Word have become flesh had Adam not sinned? Christ was willed first (absolute primacy)
Christ came to redeem sinners Christ was willed first (absolute primacy)
Where does your eye rest in Christ: His divinity or His humanity? Between
The eternal Word made flesh The man Jesus of Nazareth
VII

Worship, Prayer and the Two Lungs · Liturgy, icons, the Spirit, and the See of Peter.

The procession of the Holy Spirit From the Father and the Son (Filioque)
From the Father through the Son From the Father and the Son (Filioque)
The office of Peter Universal and immediate primacy
Conciliarism Universal and immediate primacy
What do the sacraments do? Efficacious ex opere operato
Signs only Efficacious ex opere operato
When the Pope speaks Every word binds
Resist and judge Every word binds

A profile of your philosophical and theological leanings, measured against the settled teaching of the Catholic Church, East and West. It is a tool for examination and reading, not an instrument of judgment.

Ad maiorem Dei gloriam.