The Philosophy of John Scottus Eriugena: A Study of Idealism in the Middle Ages (review)

302 JOURNAL OF THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY 29:2 APRIL 1991 known phrases in order to spur small groups of wide-eyed eighteen-year-olds ever forward in a quest for peripatetic wisdom. His book explains what it is for Aristotle-and others--to desire by nature to know. As a result, Lear discusses nature, desire, and knowledge, in addition to what knowledge is supposed to be knowledge of. Indeed, Lear suggests that his book be seen as an explication of that first line of the Metaphysics. First, the would-be student of Aristotle needs to know what it is to have a nature. This takes up the second chapter. Since Aristotle believes that a thing's (or a creature's) nature is an inner principle of change, Lear devotes the second chapter to Aristotle's account of change, and includes Aristotle's discussion of the infinite and of time. Next, Lear takes up man's nature, leading the reader through On theSoul. A discussion of desire (including happiness, virtue, and incontinence) follows. Finally, having taken the reader through nature, change, man's nature and desire, Lear takes on the understanding of the structure of reality. In his sixth and final chapter, Lear guides the reader through Aristotle's logic, philosophy of mathematics, metaphysics and theology . It has been a fast tour, but it makes good sense. By making the selections he does, Lear presents a lot of Aristotle in a well-organized way. Most of the book suits its purpose very well. The crown jewel of Lear's book is his "A Tourist's Guide to MetaphysicsVII." This is the clearest treatment of that foggy book I have seen in a long time. It is beyond me why Lear invites the reader who would rather not work through the arguments to skip most of the section. Do not skip it! Read it and appreciate it for what it is: it is not the last word on Aristotle's mature metaphysics, but it is a truly superb introduction. I cannot say the same for all of Lear's second and third chapters. His treatments of time (including Zeno's arrow) and perception proved to be very slow going even for an avowed Aristotle aficionado. In Lear's defense, it is simply very hard to write so as to lead a beginner through such thickets. Nevertheless, the nonspecialist looking for clear, penetrating, vigorous guidance through these parts of the corpus should simply look elsewhere. In spite of these flaws, Lear has written a fine introduction to The Philosopher. Through most of the book one can almost feel the excitement that comes with making sense of a difficult passage for the first time. It is this that will sustain a beginner as he grapples with the problems that bothered Aristotle, and that have bothered countless Aristotelians ever since. ROBERT FRIEDMAN MidwayCollege Dermot Moran. The PhilosophyofJohn ScottusEriugena:A StudyofIdealismin theMiddle Ages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989. Pp xvii + 333. $59.5~ The thought of the ninth-century philosopher John, who came from Ireland and is therefore known as Scottus or Eriugena or both (which results in an unfortunate BOOK REVIEWS 303 pleonasm) is arousing much renewed interest. This very dense and learned work, which may have started life as a Yale thesis, by a professor now at Maynooth, is a major contribution to Eriugena studies. The admirable opening chapters situate Eriugena in his time, the zenith of the Carolingian Renaissance, and examine his sources. Like all mediaeval thinkers, Eriugena uses concepts from Greek philosophy to understand the religion of scriptural revelation (68). Plato and Aristotle provide the basic sources for mediaeval thought. But Eriugena's work owes much of its peculiar fascination to its being based to a large extent on the Christian Neoplatonist, Pseudo-Dionysius. Moran rightly emphasizes the importance of Dionysius's theology for Eriugena. God has many of the characteristics of the Neoplatonic One. He is above all distinctions and positive predicates, and is thus non esse(229) or nothing (236), which can only be grasped in a not-knowing (2o8). He is beyond being, plus quara esse(229). Unlike their pagan Neoplatonic predecessors, Christian philosophers in this tradition regard...