The Harmony of Goodness: Mutuality and Moral Living According to John Duns Scotus

Chapter Seven: The Harmony of Goodness

ChaPTer seven The harmony of goodness In this final chapter we reprise the elements of Scotus’s moral vision and reflect upon its significance for contemporary ethical discussion. It does little good to examine the thoughts of the past if we do not consider how they might influence presentday concerns. At the outset of this study, I indicated that it is not possible to transplant Scotist thought into the twenty-first century. The more modest goal which has informed our efforts is that of a dialogue with the mind of this great Franciscan thinker. This has been difficult insofar as his works are not yet totally available in critical form. Despite the difficulties presented by the textual evidence, it has been possible to present and clarify key insights from this intricate and subtle ‘unravelling’ of reality typical of Scotus. These insights have stretched from a precise analysis of the composition of the individual in haecceitas, through the central element of freedom which undergirds all reality, to a communion with the divine in the order of merit. From the most delicate detail to the greatest grasp of cosmic order, the mind of Scotus seeks to place everything exactly where it belongs within an essential order which unites God and all creation. When I first began my study of Scotus over twenty-five years ago, I was overwhelmed by his concern for detail and precision.The power of his analytic mind and logical rigor were the most striking of his mental gifts. As my studies continued, however, I began to appreciate his concern for the relatedness of all things. Increasingly I became aware that, for Scotus, the intricate parts form a glorious whole, just as the small bits of THE HARMONY OF GOODNESS 210 colored glass join together in forming the beautiful stainedglass windows in medieval cathedrals. The vision of the whole does not negate the beauty of the parts, but brings various colors, shapes and sizes into harmonic relationship. I have chosen to call this relatedness mutuality because it exists to an eminent degree among persons.Although all reality is part of a relational order, person-based mutuality is a free relationship, entered into out of love and self-gift. It is proper to the divine reality of the Trinitarian mystery and the goal of human moral living. Scotus’s profound insights demonstrate not only analytic, but synthetic gifts as well. Throughout this present study we have seen that the Subtle Doctor does not offer a precise or step-by-step method for moral decisions. He offers, however, a presentation of moral living and moral elements which constitute a paradigm focused on beauty and harmony. His vision is primarily a spiritual vision, grounded on the Trinitarian God of Christianity. This presentation is centered in love, and thus, around the will as a free, rational potency. The will reaches out toward all that is good (the two affections) and works to balance concerns for self with objective values. Rational choice takes seriously the fundamental nature of the good and the various elements of a moral situation (prudence). The dynamic process of rational, loving praxis involves natural dispositions toward goodness (virtues) and divine assistance in grace (charity). The manner by which Scotus discusses moral living, along with his efforts to integrate nature and grace into a work of art, suggest that he would be a significant partner in any moral dialogue. As we conclude, it is appropriate to review thematically the key aspects which stand out as important qualities of Scotist thinking: the aesthetic integration of goodness and beauty, the centrality of love and the will in moral discussion, the goods of balance and harmony for human flourishing, and the primacy of mutuality for moral living. THE HARMONY OF GOODNESS 211 The aesTheTiC inTegraTion Beauty has only recently re-entered the philosophical discussion as a serious element. Umberto Eco’s works on Aquinas’saesthetictheoriescontinuetoinfluencearenaissance of scholarship on medieval thinkers and particularly in light of theories of beauty.1 Jan Aertsen examines the importance of aesthetic concerns in his article “Beauty in the Middle Ages: A Forgotten Transcendental?”2 Aertsen focuses on Thomas Aquinas and underscores the importance of the integration of beauty with truth and goodness for the medieval mind.As such, beauty was not seen to be a separate transcendental, but part of an overall “integrated sensibility” of medieval experience.3 Francis Kovach studies the importance of beauty for Aquinas...