Vitaliy Ivanov. At the origin of the Formalist Metaphysics of distinctions: the theological purpose of introduction of distinctio formalis in the work of John Duns Scotus, OFM. Vol. 1. No. 2. 2016.

Publication Details

At the origin of the Formalist Metaphysics of distinctions: the theological purpose of introduction of distinctio formalis in the work of John Duns Scotus, OFM
Title in the language of publication: У истоков формалистской метафизики дистинкций: теологические цели введения формальной дистинкции в трудах Иоанна Дунса Скота, ОМБ. Предисловие к публикации
Author:
Vitaliy Ivanov
Research Fellow at the Research and Education Center for Religion, Philosophy, and Culture Studies at St. Petersburg State University of Aerospace Instrumentation.
Address: 67A Bolshaya Morskaia str., Saint-Petersburg, 190000, Russia.
Issue:
P. 185–204.
Language: Russian
Document type: Research Article (introdaction)
Acknowledgments:  The present study is a part of the project № 16-03-00047, “The followers of John Duns Scotus in the XIVth–XVIth centuries Scholasticism: Problems of Epistemology and Metaphysics”, implemented with a financial support of the Russian Foundation for Basic Research.
 
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Abstract

This article is an analytical and historiographical introduction to the publication of a Russian translation of the texts by the Franciscan theologian and metaphysician John Duns Scotus, dedicated to the concept of formal distinction or formal non-identity. The article shows that discussion of trinitarian problems took the most important place in the Scholastic theology of the High Scholasticism, and demonstrates that the main motive and purpose of introducing the concept of “formal distinction” by Duns Scotus and of the development of the doctrine of distinctions in general was an attempt to resolve the “great difficulty” of Trinitarian theology that reads, in Scotus’s formulation: how is it possible that in one really identical Person in the Trinity, insofar as it is identical with the communicated divine essence, inhere a predicate of communicability, and at once, insofar as it is an uncommunicated (to the other Persons) suppositum, i. e. since it is constituted by its own personal property (fatherhood, sonship, etc.), inhere a predicate of incommunicability, i.e. the contradictory predicates? It seems that this violates the first principle of any (including theological) knowledge. According to Scotus, only the assumption of a distinction between a personal property and an essence in a divine Person is capable of providing a possibility of a consistent understanding of the main article of Christian doctrine — the compatibility of the unity and indivisibility of the divine essence and of the multitude of three Persons really different from each other. Moreover Scotus insists that this distinction should be inherent in the Person “ex natura rei”, i. e. not only be the product of an act of human or even divine intellectus. Further, the article shows the importance of Scotus’s formal distinction for the subsequent scholastic theology: a fierce discussion about this concept and its applicability in theology both in the ranks of Scotus’s opponents and among his followers has led to the outcome that the theme of distinctions and identities has become one of the most important in scholastic theology, metaphysics and epistemology. In addition, we single out and characterize the four main argumentative and thematic contexts of Scotus’s use of the concept of “formal distinction” in his works: trinitarian, the context of attribute theology, the constitution of the finite being, and the general metaphysical context. Finally, the article describes the main discussion in the modern studies of Scotus’s doctrine of formal distinction — concerning the degree of reality inherent to the formal distinction, and also gives short assessment regarding the main topic of this discussion and validity of the positions taken by its main participants.

Keywords

Trinitarian theology, High Scholasticism, Duns Scotus, the doctrine of formal distinction, discussion concerning the “realism” of Scotus.

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