Scotus for Dunces

An Introduction to the Subtle Doctor

Mary Beth Ingham

• Publisher: Franciscan Institute Publications
• Year: 2003
• ISBN:
  9781576592809
• Topic: Filosofia
• Subtopic: Filosofia medievale e rinascimentale

This book is a simple guide to theological and philosophical aspects of the thought of the medieval Franciscan, John Duns Scotus. Known as the Subtle Doctor, Scotus has a reputation for intricate and technical reasoning. Ingham provides an insightful and creative introduction to his thought in this book. Philosophical and theological principles are explored with clarity and demonstrated by the use of numerous practical examples. By organizing the book around themes that are both timely and urgent, Ingham invites the reader into thoughtful reflection, encourages lively discussion, and challenges Franciscans in particular to consider choosing patterns of relationships that strive for the good and beauty in all things.

Chapter 1

Scotus’s Life and Works

At the outset of such an introductory study, it is important to have a chapter whose purpose is to give the reader some sense of the man and the time in which he lived. This is particularly important in the present case, because, in this book, I pre-suppose that Scotus’s Franciscan commitments play an enormously important role in his thought. This point has become a foundational affirmation for the present study; indeed, I have chosen to organize this book, not around the philosophical underpinnings of his writings, but rather around key insights that are central to the spirituality of the Franciscan tradition. In this first chapter, then, I sketch out the biographical information we have available, the historical context that forms the background for his thought, how he figures in the thirteenth century Franciscan theological tradition (between Bonaventure and Ockham) and, finally, how all these elements help to define what is specific about his approach to reality.

When it comes to historical figures, it is always important to have a life somewhat shrouded in mystery. Where John Duns Scotus is concerned, we have more mystery than clarity. Indeed, we have very little solid information on his life. The best scholarly guess puts his birth in Duns, Scotland, possibly in the spring of 1266. A tourist visiting Duns can see the commemorative statue in the town square, dedicated to the local hero. His child-hood years leave no record of any significant events for the hagiographers to relish. There may have been a Franciscan connection in the family (an uncle or cousin) because at an early age (possibly as young as fourteen) he left home to enter the Franciscan mendicant order (Order of Friars Minor). He may have done some philosophical study near his birthplace before his teachers recognized the youth’s intellectual acumen and took him to Oxford where he could study with the great masters of the order and the university.

The name of John Duns Scotus first appears in ecclestiastical records in 1291, the year of his ordination to the priesthood on March 17. As did most thirteenth century scholars (and particularly those in religious orders), John benefitted from study at the universities of Oxford as well as Paris where he incepted as Master in Theology in 1305. This event would have been the equivalent to finishing his doctorate (in the modern American system), and would have come at the end of twelve to fourteen years of formal study. His years of professional teaching were few, however. The Franciscan died on November 8, 1308 in Cologne, Germany.

Five historical dates frame our knowledge of Scotus’s life: March 17, 1291 (his ordination to the priesthood in Oxford); summer, 1300 (the date he records at the beginning of the Ordinatio); June, 1303 (the date of a document on which his name is recorded as a member of the Franciscan community of Paris); 1305 (his inception as Master in Paris); and November, 1308 (his death in Cologne). Beyond these wide markers, we have only conjecture with which to fill in the details. Much of this conjecture is grounded on inference from one of these five dates. For instance, the record of his ordination on March 17, 1291, enables historians to suggest a birth date of spring, 1266. This conjecture is given greater probability because there had been an ordination in December 1290, for which he was apparently not eligible. Since canon law required a minimum age of twenty-five for ordination, there is good reason to conclude that Scotus celebrated his 25^th birthday between December, 1290 and March, 1291.

In addition, his inception as Master in 1305, when considered in light of recorded university procedures for the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, provides good historical ground for the conjecture that he began his formal studies of theology in 1288. Since professional university studies took from twelve to fourteen years (depending upon the university), Scotus would have had to begin prior to his ordination, unless some exception had been granted in his case. Had he entered the Franciscan novitiate in 1284 (at the age of 18, normal for that time) he would have made vows in 1285. This leaves a three-year gap in his education, between 1285 and 1288. Recent historical research points to the possible significance of the medieval mendicant orders’ two-tiered educational system where Scotus is concerned. Records from the early fourteenth century indicate that Augustinians, Carmelites, Dominicans and Franciscans all had a lectorate, an internal training program whose purpose was to prepare men for teaching and pastoral posts. Within this religious structure, the reputation of Paris (with its university) loomed large. Accordingly, each province could send two or three men to Paris for a period of study. These men would have been chosen from within the province on the basis of their intellectual performance and potential. This lectorate track was distinct from the historically better-known university track, whose purpose was to prepare men for higher university positions or ecclesiastical posts.¹ Given both the possibility of such a track and, what we might conclude about Scotus’s intellectual performance as a young man in Scotland or England, it is not unreasonable to suggest that he studied in this lectorate program in Paris sometime during these early years.²

The more formal university program he followed may have been similar to that of Parisian records for the early fourteenth century. If so, we can map out his years of formal training prior to incepting as Master in 1305. Scotus would have begun his formal theological training at Oxford within this university track (in 1288) with the initial status of auditor. This phase involved a six-year program of passive training (auditing), with three years devoted to Peter Lombard’s Book of Sentences, followed by three years of biblical study. At the end of this phase (or in 1294), at the age of twenty-eight, Scotus would have begun the seven-year intensive baccalaurate stage, where as bachelor, he would have lectured on the Sentences as well as on the Bible.

Part of the standard coursework required of each student (or bachelor) included the lectures on Peter Lombard’s Book of Sentences. This work, Scotus’s earliest set of lectures given at Oxford possibly between 1298 and 1300,³ is known as the Lectura. In 1300, he began working on a revised version of this, known as the Ordinatio. Scotus actually records the date when he is writing the Prologue, so we are certain of this textual dating. The term ordinatio is technical: it refers to the more formal, revised, and personally reviewed manuscript of the Sentences (that is, the version reviewed by the author himself). In finalizing such a manuscript, an author would have used some material from earlier teaching, in the way that a rough draft can be used for a final draft. The Ordinatio is the sort of formal text that someone prepares for a final edition.

It is not unreasonable to assume that he might have had some advance notice of his appointment to Paris (to begin in the autumn of 1302) and undertook the Ordinatio revisions in light of his impending move to the French university. Scotus’s move would have come at the request of the Minister General, who, upon the recommendation of the General Chapter, appointed select men to the Parisian university to complete their studies. This appointment would have been significant, for it was not in view of education within the order, but in view of a more important professional university career.⁴ Once in Paris, Scotus continued revising this major text and, with a different set of students, began again with his lectures on the Sentences, Book I. In his first year, 1302-1303, he would have participated as bachelor in the disputation between the Franciscan Regent Master, Gonsalves of Spain, and the Dominican Meister Eckhart.⁵ Scotus’s Parisian teaching also provides us with the third version of his Commentary on Lombard’s Sentences, known as the Reportatio Parisiensis.

These final years of intellectual development, however, were again interrupted, this time by political events. During these years of political and ecclesiastical hostility between King Philip the Fair of France and Pope Boniface VIII, events came to a dramatic climax. In June, 1303 Philip called for a council to depose Boniface and sought the signatures of all clerics and religious in support of his effort. Because he refused to subscribe to the king’s effort, Scotus was forced to abandon his studies and teaching when he and other Franciscans were sent into exile. During the next academic year (1303-1304), the best scholarly guess puts him back at Oxford (or possibly even at Cambridge)⁶ where he continued to lecture and work on the Ordinatio. He returned to Paris sometime after April 8, 1304, when Benedict XI, Boniface’s successor, lifted the ban placed on the University of Paris and the King allowed the return of those he had exiled.

The newly elected Minister General, Gonsalves of Spain,⁷ announced in November, 1304 that the next Franciscan Regent Master would be John Duns Scotus. His inception as Master and his Regency began in 1305. During this time, he was able to offer only one series of disputed questions.⁸ Ordinarily, this important regency appointment lasted one or two years, and in 1307 Gonsalves sent him to Cologne to oversee the teaching of Theology at that important center. Scotus would only have one complete academic year (1307-1308) in this new position because of his death in November, 1308, at the age of 42. He is buried in the Franciscan church (Minoritenkirche) not far from the Cologne cathedral.

To a great degree, the events of Scotus’s life explain why his works have been so difficult to study and understand. Scotus’s travels during his years of study and teaching, along with his early death, leave scholars with an enormous quantity of textual material in various states of completion. This textual situation accounts for the variety of scholarly opinions on Scotus’s positions on important questions, not the least of which are those dealing with the nature of freedom and the way in which God relates to the created order. The complex textual situation has also been responsible in part for the negative verdict brought against him by some historians of philosophy. When scholars do not have good texts to work from, conclusions can be drawn on the basis of insufficient evidence, poor scribal recording, or false attribution. This problem, where Scotus is concerned, spanned the twentieth century, as early negative judgments slowly gave way to more nuanced and moderate interpretations, thanks to the publication of the critical edition.⁹ Some issues have not been settled, despite the best efforts of scholars, and so, where Scotus is concerned, the jury is still out on some questions.

Indeed, despite the intense work of international scholars over the last thirty years, there is still lack of unanimity on the exact nature of certain teachings of the Subtle Doctor. This is particularly the case in regard to his emphasis on the will and the primacy of freedom, both for human moral life and for divine action. In brief, and depending upon whom you might read, Scotus is alternately a radical thinker who defends a wildly arbitrary view of freedom, both for God and for us, or, conversely, a thoughtful scholar who tries to reconcile apparently diverse perspectives on these key issues in order that he might save both the dignity of human choice and the central role played by the divine will in creation and salvation. Let us just note here that a serious debate continues to engage the scholarly community about the authentic positions Scotus held and taught, and upon their significance for later thinkers. Regular international congresses and conferences devote considerable attention to his work, sponsored by the International Scotistic Commission and other scholarly bodies.

Part of the medieval intellectual formation leading to the degree of Master (a terminal degree, since following the completion of all requirements, the new Master could teach at the university), every bachelor was expected to author his own commentary on the Book of Sentences. This standard medieval text stemmed from the work of the twelfth century student of Abelard, Peter Lombard. Lombard’s Sentences was, quite simply, a systematic compilation of all doctrinal questions (from the nature of God to final human destiny and the beatific vision). Its methodology was that of a debate, complete with arguments for and against each position, concluding with a determination. In each question, the author would present (to the best of his ability) all relevant points regarding a given position, in as much detail as he wished. Following the laying out of the arguments, the author closed with his determinatio, or final verdict on the matter, followed by his own responses to the most significant points raised earlier, and now seen in light of his solution. This concluding determination was by far the most important part of the textual study: it was meant to arise logically out of the dialectic of the debate and represented the position of the bachelor writing that particular commentary. Because each bachelor could organize his own arguments, the Sentence Commentary gives us a glimpse of his mind at work. We are able to appreciate his particular approach, as he develops his own particular way of understanding the question, and as he gives us his answer, along with his reasons for holding it.

In addition to the required questions to be handled in the course of the work, a bachelor lecturing on the Sentences could develop any point (or sub-point) of any question, according to personal interest. In this way, each Sentence Commentary is a variation on the original set of questions. For example, when Scotus looks at the modes of divine action, he takes Lombard’s original question “Whether God could have created things better than he did?” (Ordinatio I, distinction 44) and recasts it to focus on a present, rather than a past, event. He asks, “Whether God could create things other than he has ordained them to be made?” In this way, by shifting the question from what God did in the past (at the moment of creation) to what God is able to do in the present, he reveals his interest in what the present world and the present moment reveal about God, about divine power, and divine sustaining love.

Scotus’s commentaries are among the most complex we have. One reason is the triple textual situation mentioned earlier.¹⁰ A second reason is the numerous manuscripts that must be studied to establish the critical text. But also, Scotus is an intricate and precise thinker who follows every single line of argumentation to the bitter end. He develops points and sub-arguments that most of us would not have thought about. Often he provides more compelling reasons in favor of an adversary’s position than does the opponent. This tendency of his to la...