The
Tractatus de Primo Principio is a short but important compendium of natural theology; drawing heavily upon the
Ordinatio, it seems to be one of Scotus's latest works. Like the
Theoremata, a work whose authenticity has been seriously questioned, the
Tractatus was apparently dictated only in an incomplete form and left to some amanuensis to finish.
Theology and Philosophy
Like the majority of the great thinkers of the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries, Scotus was a professional theologian rather than a philosopher. One of the privileges accorded mendicant friars like the Franciscans and Dominicans was that of beginning their studies for a mastership in theology without having first become a Master of Arts. The philosophical courses they took in preparation were pursued in study houses of their own order and were, as a rule, less extensive than those required of the candidate for an M.A. As a consequence of this educational program their commentaries on the philosophical works of Aristotle were usually written later than those on biblical works or on the Sentences of Peter Lombard; also, the most important features of their philosophy are frequently found in the context of a theological question.
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