Duns Scotus
John Duns Scotus OFM (/ˈskoʊtəs/ SKOH-təs; Ecclesiastical Latin: [duns ˈskɔtus], "Duns the Scot"; c. 1265/66 – 8 November 1308) was a Scottish Catholic priest and Franciscan friar, university professor, philosopher and theologian. He is one of the four most important Christian philosopher-theologians of Western Europe in the High Middle Ages, together with Thomas Aquinas, Bonaventure and William of Ockham.
John Duns Scotus OFM | |
|---|---|
Portrait by Justus van Gent, c. 1476-1478 | |
| Born | c. 1265/66 Duns, Berwickshire, Scotland |
| Died | 8 November 1308 (aged 41–42) Cologne, Holy Roman Empire |
| Venerated in | Catholic Church |
| Beatified | 20 March 1993, Vatican City by Pope John Paul II |
| Major shrine | Franciscan Church, Cologne, Germany |
| Feast | 8 November |
| Attributes | Books, a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the moon on the chest of a Franciscan friar |
| Patronage | Academics, Cologne, Germany, apologies, scholars, student, theologians and philosophers |
Philosophy career | |
| Education | University of Oxford University of Paris |
| Era | Medieval philosophy |
| Region | Western philosophy |
| School | Scholasticism Scotism Aristotelianism Theological voluntarism Philosophical realism Medieval realism (Scotistic realism) |
| Doctoral advisor | William of Ware |
| Doctoral students | William of Ockham |
Main interests | Metaphysics, theology, logic, epistemology, ethics |
Notable ideas | Univocity of being Formal distinction Theological voluntarism Haecceity as a principle of individuation Scotistic realism Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary |
Duns Scotus has had considerable influence on both Catholic and secular thought. The doctrines for which he is best known are the "univocity of being", that existence is the most abstract concept we have, applicable to everything that exists; the formal distinction, a way of distinguishing between different formalities of the same thing; and the idea of haecceity, the property supposed to be in each individual thing that makes it an individual (i.e. a certain “thisness”). Duns Scotus also developed a complex argument for the existence of God, and argued for the Immaculate Conception of Mary. The intellectual tradition derived from Scotus' work is called Scotism.
Duns Scotus was given the scholastic accolade Doctor Subtilis ("the subtle doctor") for his penetrating and subtle manner of thought. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1993.
Critics of Scotus' work described his followers as "dunces"; the "dunce cap" was later used as a form of punishment in schools and the word "dunce" has come to be used as a term to describe someone dull-witted.