Aan velen, onder wie een groot aantal filosofen, is uit de middeleeuwse wijsbegeerte slechts Thomas van Aquino enigszins bekend. Johannes Duns Scotus valt vaak achter Thomas weg. Ten onrechte: Duns Scotus is een briljant denker van de eerste orde. Weinig denkers uit oudheid en middeleeuwen zijn tegelijk zo constructief en kritisch als hij.

Studie over het theologische en filosofische gedachtengoed van de franciscaanse scholasticus (ca. 1265-1308).

Metaphysik = Metaphysics -- Epistemologie = Epistemology -- Wille und Freiheit = Will and freedom.

In his Ordinatio, Scotus disregards the constitutive function of thinking inherent to Anselm's ratio. Scotus' representation of the argument in Ordinatio I d. 2 p. 1 q. 2, which lays no claim to coloratio, eliminates this constitutive function, proving instead by means of a syllogism containing the terms «being», «non-being» and «the highest» the existence of the highest. In the coloratio {Ord. I d. 2 p. 1 q. 1), then, Scotus replaces Anselm's expression «that than which nothing (...) greater can be thought» with the concept «the highest thinkable», by which he means an infinite being. The introduction of an infinite being taken as the highest thinkable, however, destroys the structure of Anselm's argument with its innate coherence. In fact, Scotus proves the existence of the highest thinkable not by means of this argumentative structure, but instead on the basis of his own analysis of certain ontological structures. This proof has no real connection in content to Anselm's argument and does not foster its comprehension; instead, Scotus merely couches his argument in Anselm's terms, so that it is more appropriate to talk about a coloratio rationum Scoti. (shrink)

Johannes Duns Scotus is begonnen met het onderzoek naar de werkelijkheid als ‘het volstrekt mogelijke’. In Kant zien we een radicale voortzetting van deze beweging, die echter tot een nieuw noodzakelijkheidsdenken heeft geleid. In de theorievorming over het menselijk individu, een onderwerp dat Duns Scotus zeer aan het hart ging, is dat determinisme nog niet overwonnen.

In this monograph, Antonie Vos Jaczn surveys John Duns Scotus's theological thought, with an eye to its potential impact upon the future of Christian theology. His survey is constructed as a far ranging tour which ends, as it were, at its beginning. In chapters 1-2.1 he sketches in the societal, institutional, and biographical circumstances of Scotus's life and thought. In 2.2 he takes on the complex of problems inhering in the difficult and confused character of extant literary (...) witnesses to his thought. In the process, he argues persuasively for the hermeneutical priority of the Lectura when attempting to reconstruct and represent Scotus's authentic doctrine. (shrink)

Die Möglichkeitsspekulation des Duns Scotus (1266-1308) gehört zu den bemerkenswertesten metaphysischen Konstruktionen des späteren Mittelalters. Im vorliegenden Buch unternimmt der Verfasser den Versuch, anhand der systematischen Entfaltung der beiden Möglichkeitsstufen (logische und reale Möglichkeit) nachzuweisen, dass hier eine «Philosophie der Endlichkeit» vorliegt, die sich selbst transzendiert, gleichsam von selbst in Metaphysik übergehen muss. Das Ergebnis ist eine originelle und weit vorausweisende Begründung kontingenten, endlichen Seins.

The paper argues that the doctrine of John Duns Scot concerning the possibility that one can enjoy the divine essence apart from the persons in the beatific vision, is a consequent application of important metaphysical principles on trinitarian theology. This judgment can be confirmed by taking into account William of Ockham’s rejection of the scotistic view.

Johannes Duns Scotus (1266-1308) was one of the greatest medieval theologians. He joined the Franciscan order and soon stood out because of his acumen. The ideas he developed about the non-necessity of reality became very influential, also in Reformed theology. The life of Duns Scotus is difficult to reconstruct. This biography provides an overview of the state of research and therefore of the life of Duns in his native Scotland, England, where he was educated, (...) France, where he taught, and Germany, where he died. (shrink)