Ens rationis from Suarez to Caramuel: A Study in Scholasticism of the Baroque Era

2 Problems Posed by Beings of Reason

This chapter introduces the main philosophical target of the study, namely ens rationis (being of reason), from a systematic point of view. The chapter provides a broad conceptual framework within which the various elements of the theories of Suárez, Hurtado, Mastri/Belluto, and Caramuel, dealt with in later chapters, may be located. The chapter is divided into three parts. The first part provides a general map of scholastic ontology; the second is devoted to the question of what sort of roles beings of reason were supposed to play in scholastic ontologies; the final part outlines the plan for the following chapters of this book and summarizes its main results.