Duns Scotus Quotes
John Duns Scotus was a 13th and early 14th-century Scottish Franciscan friar, philosopher, and theologian, regarded as one of the most important medieval scholastic philosophers alongside Aquinas and William of Ockham. Known to subsequent tradition as the Subtle Doctor for the rigour and complexity of his arguments, he developed influential positions on the univocity of being, the distinction between essence and existence, the principle of individuation through what he called haecceity or thisness, and the primacy of the will over the intellect. The quotes below are attributed to Duns Scotus, organized by topic.
Duns Scotus on Freedom
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Attributed to Duns Scotus:
“Nothing other than the will is the total cause of volition in the will.”
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Attributed to Duns Scotus:
“The will is the freer the more able it is to choose the good for its own sake.”
Duns Scotus on Nature
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Attributed to Duns Scotus:
“Each individual has its own haecceity, its thisness, that makes it the thing it is and no other.”
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Attributed to Duns Scotus:
“Where there is no order, there is no being.”
Duns Scotus on Truth
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Attributed to Duns Scotus:
“It does not behoove the philosopher to deny what is self-evident.”