A Dictionary of Philosophy, Third Edition
. c. 1266–1308. Born probably at Duns near Anglo-Scottish border. Scottish theologian and philosopher who probably worked in Cambridge, Oxford and Paris. His interests were in the same general area as those of AQUINAS, though somewhat less closely tied to ARISTOTLE. He held distinctive views on such questions as the nature of being, of matter, of relations, of transcendentals (see BEING), and on how individual members of a species are distinguished (where he introduces his notion of haecceitas (‘thisness’); see HAECCEITY). He also introduced a fresh proof for God’s existence.
Among his authentic works are the Opus Oxoniense (a commentary on the Sentences of Peter Lombard), Quaestiones Quodlibetales (miscellaneous questions), De Primo Principio, and commentaries on Aristotle’s metaphysics and logic. His philosophy, with that of his followers, is called Scotism. See also OCKHAM.
A.B.Wolter (ed. and trans.), John Duns Scotus: a Treatise on God as First Principle, Franciscan Herald Press, 1961. (Has Latin text and English tradition.)
A.B.Wolter (ed. and trans.), Duns Scotus: Philosophical Writings: a Selection, Nelson, 1962, Hackett, 1987. (Has Latin text and English translation. Bobbs-Merrill published the English without the Latin in 1964.)
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