Duns Scotus (1266-1308)

Major works

•          His teachings are preserved in a Commentary on the Sentences of Peter Lombard, glosses on Aristotelian texts, and disputations about various subjects

Importance

•          Most distinguished Oxford scholar

•          Held to priority of the will over the intellect

•          Contributed to Roman Catholic view of the Immaculate Conception

•          Believed in possible worlds

•          Said God’s attributes not provable by reason

•          Known as the ‘subtle doctor’

•          The term “dunce” comes from him and was invented by his detractors

•          Opposed Aquinas on almost every point