Thursday, November 7, 2019

A Text on Scotus on Essence and Existence

While transcribing some stuff out of the Additiones secundi libri (compiled by William of Alnwick from the Oxford and Paris lectures of Scotus), I came across the following comment about the relation of essence and existence, a doctrine of paramount iportance in Thomism, but less so in Scotism.

Additiones II d. 16 q. 1: "esse est actus intrinsecus essentiae idem sibi realiter non ab ea progrediens"

"'to be' is an act intrinsic to essence, really the same as it, not coming forth from it"

2 comments:

ahmed said...
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Anonymous said...

So, Scotus denies that essence and existence are really distinct? that makes me wonder then in what way he thinks God plays a causal role in giving being to creatures, because it seems then God isn't needed as an explanation for existence, since a things essence explains why it would exist (if they are identical...a thing just exists because that is its nature).