THOMAS AQUINAS AND JOHN DUNS SCOTUS: NATURAL THEOLOGY IN THE HIGH MIDDLE AGES Continuum Studies in Philosophy Series Editor: James Fieser, University of Tennessee at Martin, USA Continuum Studies in Philosophy is a major monograph series from Continuum. The series features first-class scholarly research monographs across the whole field of philosophy. Each work makes a major contribution to the field of philosophical research. Aesthetic in Kant, James Kirwan Analytic Philosophy: The History of an Illusion, Aaron Preston Aquinas and the Ship of Theseus, Christopher Brown Augustine and Roman Virtue, Brian Harding The Challenge of Relativism, Patrick Phillips Demands of Taste in Kant’s Aesthetics, Brent Kalar Descartes and the Metaphysics of Human Nature, Justin Skirry Descartes’ Theory of Ideas, David Clemenson Dialectic of Romanticism, Peter Murphy and David Roberts Hegel and the Analytic Tradition, edited by Angelica Nuzzo Hegel’s Philosophy of Language, Jim Vernon Hegel’s Philosophy of Right, David James Hegel’s Theory of Recognition, Sybol Cook Anderson The History of Intentionality, Ryan Hickerson Kierkegaard, Metaphysics and Political Theory, Alison Assiter Kierkegaard’s Analysis of Radical Evil, David A. Roberts Leibniz Re-interpreted, Lloyd Strickland Metaphysics and the End of Philosophy, HO Mounce Nicholas Malebranche, Susan Peppers-Bates Nietzsche and the Greeks, Dale Wilkerson Origins of Analytic Philosophy, Delbert Reed Philosophy of Miracles, David Corner Platonism, Music and the Listener’s Share, Christopher Norris Popper’s Theory of Science, Carlos Garcia Role of God in Spinoza’s Metaphysics, Sherry Deveaux Rousseau and the Ethics of Virtue, James Delaney Rousseau’s Theory of Freedom, Matthew Simpson Spinoza and the Stoics, Firmin DeBrabander Spinoza’s Radical Cartesian Mind, Tammy Nyden-Bullock St. Augustine and the Theory of Just War, John Mark Mattox St. Augustine of Hippo, R.W. Dyson Thomas Aquinas & John Duns Scotus, Alex Hall Tolerance and the Ethical Life, Andrew Fiala THOMAS AQUINAS AND JOHN DUNS SCOTUS: NATURAL THEOLOGY IN THE HIGH MIDDLE AGES Alexander W. Hall Continuum The Tower Building 80 Maiden Lane 11 York Road Suite 704 London New York SE1 7NX NY 10038 www.continuumbooks.com © Alexander W. Hall 2007 First published 2007 Paperback edition 2009 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN: PB: 978-1-4411-8408-5 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. Typeset by Fakenham Photosetting, Fakenham, Norfolk For my Wife Tuyet, my children Maia and Dylan, and my parents Terrence and Donna Hall This page intentionally left blank Contents Acknowledgements ix Preface xi List of Abbreviations xiii List of Translations xv 1 Natural Theology in the High Middle Ages 1 2 Aquinas and Scientia 28 3 Scientia, Analogia, and the Five Ways 49 4 Scotus and Scientia 75 5 Scotus on Naming and Understanding 86 6 Scotus on the Signification of Theological Discourse 101 7 Infinitude, Transcendental Signification and Analogy 110 Sources Consulted 121 Notes 131 Index 167 This page intentionally left blank Acknowledgements Material from John Duns Scotus, Philosophical Writings, translated with introduction and notes by Allan Wolter (Indianapolis: Hackett, 1987); and from ‘Summa theologiae,’ in Basic Writings of Saint Thomas Aquinas, edited and annotated, with an introduction, by Anton C. Pegis, 2 vols. (New York: Random House, 1944) is reprinted by permission of Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. All rights reserved. Material from John Duns Scotus, God and Creatures: The Quodlibetal Questions, translated with introduction, notes, and glossary by Felix Alluntis and Allan B. Wolter (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1975) is used with permission of The Catholic University of America Press, Washington, D.C. Material from John Duns Scotus, Opera omnia, edited by C. Bali´c, et al. Vatican Scotistic Commission (Rome: Polyglot Press, 1950–) is used with permission of Commissione Internazionale Scotista critica della Opera omnia del Beato Giovanni Duns Scoto. This page intentionally left blank Preface This book began as a dissertation written at Emory University under Jack Zupko, whose wisdom and mentorship inspire my work as a scholar and educator. I also owe thanks to Gyula Klima for encouragement and advice at the outset of this project, as well as to numerous scholars who shared their expertise with me at the sessions of various learned societies, and to Lloyd Newton who allowed me the use of his forthcoming edition of Scotus’s Quaestiones in librum Praedicamentorum. In addition I am deeply grateful to Richard Berquist for generously sharing with me his considerable knowledge concerning ancient and medieval concep- tions of scientia. Where the sound advice of these scholars has not been incorporated into the final product, it is generally because a recommendation came too late to see print. This especially concerns the advice given me in response to a presentation of my research at an annual meeting of the International Duns Scotus Society where Timothy Noone and Stephen Dumont, respectively, noted work to be done as concerns both the meaning of Scotus’s assertion that our knowledge of God is confused and his rejection of prior and posterior signification. I am also grateful to the two additional members of my dissertation committee, Thomas Flynn and Steven Strange; my readers Pamela Hall and Mark Risjord; and to John Glanville and Armand Fernandez, teachers who inspired my love of philosophy. Of course the views expressed in this book are my own and may not be shared by those who helped me. Finally, heartfelt thanks goes to my wife Tuyet whose considerable sacrifice and support made this work possible. This page intentionally left blank List of Abbreviations An Aristotle, On the Soul An.Post Aristotle, Posterior Analytics CHLMP Norman Kretzmann et al. (eds), The Cambridge History of Later Medieval Philosophy De Div. Nom Dionysius, De divinus nominibus De primo princ. Scotus, On the First Principle In DA Aquinas, Sententia super De anima In PA Aquinas, Sententia super Posteriora analytica Met Aristotle, Metaphysics NAB New American Bible Ord. Scotus, Ordinatio Quodl. Scotus, Quaestiones quodlibetales SCG Aquinas, Summa contra gentiles ST Aquinas, Summa theologiae This page intentionally left blank List of Translations An.Post (from the Greek): Translated by Jonathan Barnes, in: Aristotle. The Complete Works of Aristotle: The Revised Oxford Translation. Edited by J. Barnes. 2 vols. Bollingen Series. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1984. An.Post (from the Latin): Translated by F. R. Larcher, in: Thomas Aquinas. Commentary on the ‘Posterior Analytics’ of Aristotle. Preface by James A. Weisheipl. New York: Magi Books, 1970. De primo princ: Translated by Allan B. Wolter, in: John Duns Scotus. A Treatise on God as First Principle. Chicago: Franciscan Herald Press, 1966. In PA: Larcher. De Interpretatione: Translated by J. L. Ackrill, in: Barnes, ed., vol. 1. Met (from the Greek): Translated by W. D. Ross, in: Barnes, ed., vol. 2. Met (from the Latin): Rowan. Ord: Translated by Allan Wolter, in: Philosophical Writings: A Selection. With introduction and notes by Allan Wolter. Cambridge: Hackett Publishing Company, 1987. Ord: Translated by William A. Frank and Allan B. Wolter, in: Duns Scotus, Metaphysician. West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University Press, 1995. Quodl: Translated by Felix Alluntis and Allan B. Wolter, in: John Duns Scotus, God and Creatures: The Quodlibetal Questions. Introduction, notes, and glossary by Felix Alluntis and Allan B. Wolter. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1975. Republic: Translated by Paul Shorey, in Plato: The Collected Dialogues. Edited by Edith Hamilton and Huntington Cairns. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1961. SCG: Translated by Anton C. Pegis, et al. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1975. xvi Thomas Aquinas and John Duns Scotus In DA: Translated by Kenelm Foster and Silvester Humphries, in: Commentary on Aristotle’s ‘De Anima.’ Introduction by Ralph McInerny. Notre Dame: Dumb Ox Books, 1994. Sententia super Metaphysiciam: Translated by John Rowan, in: Commentary on Aristotle’s ‘Metaphysics.’ Introduction by John Rowan, preface by Ralph McInerny. Notre Dame: Dumb Ox Books, 1995. ST: Translated by Fathers of the English Dominican Province, in: Basic Writings of Saint Thomas Aquinas. Edited and annotated, with an introduction, by Anton C. Pegis. 2 vols. New York: Random House, 1944 Unless otherwise noted, I rely solely on these translations. I use two translations of the Ordinatio, providing the English title in the citation. It is sometimes difficult to correlate a passage from these translations back to the Latin critical edition, so I also provide the page numbers from the English edition. For example ‘Ord. I, d. 3, q. 1, n. 26, Duns Scotus, Metaphysician, 109’ refers to p. 109 of Duns Scotus, Metaphysician. Citations from Ord. I, d. 22, q. un., Appendix A provide page numbers from the Vatican edition as the editors do not organize this material into numbered sections. On occasion, I tacitly introduce minor modifications in the