John Duns Scotus ─ Metaphysics and Ethics

'Of realty the rarest-veined unraveler', John Duns Scotus was one of the profoundest metaphysicians who ever lived. In this volume, the world's foremost Scotus scholars collaborate to present the latest research on his work. In ethics, the focus is on practical wisdom, on beauty as an ethical concept, and on the independence of the virtues; in metaphysics, on modality, individuation, and being. Textbook accounts notwithstanding, Scotus' theory of logical possibilities implies no existence or actuality for possible beings though being and thinking presuppose the domain of possibility; potency only supervenes on the actual. There are important thirteenth-century precursors of Scotus' theory of modality and individuation. Posterior to quidditative entity, Scotus clearly distinguishes the ultimate reality of individual beings both from individuals and from individuality.

Rega Wood, Ph.D. (1975), Cornell University, is a Professor at the Franciscan Institute, St. Bonaventure University. An editor of Scotus' philosophical works, she has also edited works by Ockham and Adam Wodeham.Ludger Honnefelder, Dr. phil. (1971), University of Bonn, is since 1988 Professor of Philosophy at the University of Bonn. He is the author of 2 monographs on Scotus and his Nachleben, Ens inquantum ens (1975) and Scientia transcendens, and has published extensively on metaphysics and ethics.Mechtild Dreyer, Dr. phil. (1980), University of Bonn, has published on the application of the axiomatic method in Antiquity and the Middle Ages. She has also edited the Ars Fidei Catholicae by Nicholas of Amiens and Scotus' Theoremata.