Frontmatter

Translator's Preface

This translation of Book I d.3 of the Ordinatio (aka Opus Oxoniense) of Blessed John Duns Scotus is complete. This distinction fills volume three of the Vatican critical edition of the Latin text edited by the Scotus Commission in Rome and published by Quarrachi.

Scotus’ Latin is tight and not seldom elliptical, exploiting to the full the grammatical resources of the language to make his meaning clear (especially the backward references of his pronouns). In English this ellipsis must, for the sake of intelligibility, often be translated with a fuller repetition of words and phrases than Scotus himself gives. The possibility of mistake thus arises if the wrong word or phrase is chosen for repetition. The only check to remove error is to ensure that the resulting English makes the sense intended by Scotus. Whether this sense has always been captured in the translation that follows must be judged by the reader. In addition, there are passages where not only the argumentation but the grammar too is obscure, and I cannot vouch for the success of my attempts to penetrate the obscurity. So, for these and the like reasons, comments and notice of errors from readers are most welcome.

Note: this volume of the text has already been translated by John van den Bercken, On Being and Cognition: Ordinatio 1.3 Fordham University Press, 2016. The translation given here, while cognizant of that translation and benefiting much from it, is independent of it and is offered for the sake of completeness, so as not to leave unfinished this project to translate online all the volumes of the new critical text of the Ordinatio. Quod cum factum sit, Deo gratias.

Peter L.P. Simpson

October, 2020

Titlepage

THE ORDINATIO OF BLESSED JOHN DUNS SCOTUS

Book One

Distinction 3

Translated by Peter L.P. Simpson

Contents

Book One

Third Distinction. First Part: About the Knowability of God

                                   

Question One: Whether God is Naturally Knowable by the Intellect of the Wayfarer	Num. 1
Question Two: Whether God is the First Thing Naturally Known by Us in this State of Life	Num. 6
I. Clarification of the First Question	Num. 10
II. Opinion of Others to Each Question	Num. 20
III. Scotus’ own Response to the First Question	Num. 24
A. A Quidditative Concept of God Can be Obtained	Num. 25
B. About a Concept Univocal to God and Creatures	Num. 26
C. God Cannot be Known under his Proper Idea	Num. 56
D. About the Concept of Infinite Being	Num. 58
E. God is Known through the Species of Creatures	Num. 61
IV. To the Arguments of the First Question	Num. 63
V. Scotus’ own Response to the Second Question	Num. 69
A. About the Order of Origin of Intelligibles	Num. 71
B. About the Order of Perfection (and Adequacy) in Intelligibles	Num. 95
VI. To the Arguments for the Second Question	Num. 100
Question Three: Whether God is the Natural First Object that is Adequate Relative to the Intellect of the Wayfarer	Num. 108
I. Opinion of Others
A. First Opinion	Num. 110
B. Second Opinion	Num. 125
II. To the Question	Num. 129
A. Of What Sort the Univocity of Being is and to What Things it Extends	Num. 131
B. About the First Object of the Intellect	Num. 137
C. Arguments against the Univocity of Being and their Solution	Num. 152
III. About the Other Transcendentals	Num. 167
IV. Doubt about the First Object of the Intellect for this Present State	Num. 185
V. To the Initial Arguments	Num. 189
Question Four: Whether any Certain and Sincere Truth could Naturally be Known by the Intellect of the Wayfarer without a Special Illumining of Uncreated Light	Num. 202
I. Opinion of Henry	Num. 208
II. Attack on Henry’s Opinion and Solution of the Question	Num. 218
A. Against the Fundamental Reasons Adduced	Num. 219
B. Against the Opinion in Itself	Num. 229
C. Against the Fundamental Reasons insofar as they are Less Probative	Num. 246
D. Against the Conclusion itself of the Opinion	Num. 258
E. Solution of the Question	Num. 261
F. Once More Against the Fundamental Reasons Adduced	Num. 280

Second Part. About the Footprint (or Vestige)

              

Single Question: Whether in Every Creature there is a Footprint of the Trinity Num. 281
I. To the Question	Num. 285
A. On the Idea of Footprint
1. Opinion of Others	Num. 286
2. Against this Opinion	Num. 289
3. Scotus’ own Opinion	Num. 298
B. About Ratification and Somethingness
1. Opinion of Others	Num. 302
2. Rejection of the Opinion
a. First Rejection of the Opinion	Num. 310
b. Another Rejection of the Opinion	Num. 320
3. Scotus’ own Opinion	Num. 323
4. To the Reasons for the Rejected Opinion	Num. 324
II. To the Initial Arguments	Num. 330

Third Part. About the Image The divisions of this third part have been expanded from what the Vatican Editors have on their contents page by the addition here of some of the divisions they give in the body of the text. ¹

                                                                                     

Question One: Whether in the Intellective Part Properly Taken there is a Memory that has an Intelligible Species Naturally Prior to the Act of Understanding	Num.
I. To the Question
A. The Opinion of Others	Num. 340
B. Scotus’ Response and his own Opinion	Num. 348
1. Reasons on the Part of the Universality of the Object Num. 352
2. Reasons on the Part of the Presence of the Object	Num. 366
3. Scotus’ Concluding Opinion	Num. 370
4. To the Reasons from the Authorities	Num. 371
II. To the Initial Arguments	Num. 379
III. To the Arguments for the Opinion of Others	Num. 388
Question Two: Whether the Intellective Part Properly Taken or Something of it is the Total Cause Generating Actual Knowledge, or the Idea of Generating it Num. 401
I. Six Opinions of Others are Expounded and Rejected
A. About the First Opinion
1. Exposition of the Opinion	Num. 407
2. Rejection of the Opinion	Num. 413
B. About the Second Opinion
1. Exposition of the opinion	Num. 422
2. Rejection of the Opinion	Num. 427
C. About the Third and Fourth Opinion
1. Exposition of the Opinions	Num. 450
2. Rejection of the Opinions	Num. 452
D. About the Fifth and Sixth Opinion
1. Exposition of the Opinions	Num. 456
2. Rejection of the Opinions	Num. 463
3. Rejection of the Sixth Opinion Specifically	Num. 471
II. Scotus’ own Opinion	Num. 486
III. To the Arguments for the Opinions
A. To the Arguments for the First Opinion	Num. 504
B. To the Arguments for the Second Opinion	Num. 512
C. To the Things Said in the Third and Fourth Opinion	Num. 528
D. To the Arguments of the Fifth Opinion	Num. 537
IV. To the Initial Arguments	Num. 547
Question Three: Whether the More Principal Cause of Generated Knowledge is the Object Present in Itself or in the Species, or the Very Intellective Part of the Intellect	Num. 554
I. Solution of the Question	Num. 559
II. To the Initial Arguments	Num. 563
Question Four: Whether there is Distinctly in the Mind an Image of the Trinity Num. 569
I. To the Question
A. About the Image of the Trinity in Us	Num. 574
B. Two Doubts	Num. 581
1. To the First Doubt	Num. 583
2. To the Second Doubt	Num. 588
3. Corollary	Num. 594
II. To the Initial Arguments	Num. 596