Scotus's life
Introduction John Duns Scotus (1265/66–1308) did not write systematically about ethics and moral psychology, but he did write extensively. In this volume I offer translations that cover the whole range of ethical topics that Scotus discusses, including happiness, freedom, moral responsibility, the virtues, the metaphysics of goodness, practical reason, the moral attributes of God (such as love, justice, and mercy), the will and its acts and affections, the foundations of morality, sin, and such practical matters as marriage, truth-telling, promise-keeping, and sacramental confession.
To the extent that space would allow, I have translated entire questions, or at least extended selections, rather than shorter excerpts.
I begin with a brief overview of Scotus's life and works, with particular emphasis on the works from which the selections in this volume are drawn. I then discuss the editions and manuscripts I have used, and finally I explain some conventions I have adopted in the translations.
Scotus's life We have relatively little clear and uncontested information about Scotus's life. The first certain date that we have is 17 March 1291, on which Scotus was ordained to the priesthood by Oliver Sutton, Bishop of Lincoln, at the priory of St Andrew in Northampton. Bishop Sutton had held ordinations in Wycombe (somewhat closer to Oxford, where Scotus was studying) on 23 December 1290, so the conjecture—and it is no more than a conjecture—is that Scotus reached the canonical age of twentyfive between those two dates.1 Thus his birth is commonly said to have taken place between 24 December 1265 and 17 March 1266, and although there is certainly nothing to rule out the possibility that Scotus was in fact older than twenty-five when he was ordained,2 these dates fit well with other accounts that Scotus was born "about the year 1265"3 in Duns, in the Scottish Borders.
Accounts of Scotus's early studies are so contentious and rely so heavily on conjecture that I will simply pass over them in silence4 and turn to the culmination of his studies,
1 Callebaut, "A propos du Bx. Jean Duns Scot," 319; Wolter, "Reflections," 5.
2 Sheppard, "Vita Scoti," 294.
3 Wolter, "Reflections," 6 n.
4 See Sheppard, "Vita Scoti," 297–311, for details of the controversies.