The Scotus Edition: John Duns Scotus's Philosophical Works

THE SCOTUS EDITION: JOHN DUNS SCOTUS'S PHILOSOPHICAL WORKS The journey towards a critical edition of John Duns Scotus's philosophical works has been long and oft-postponed. Already in Quaracchi, at the Franciscan centre of mediaeval research near Florence, Italy, the eminent medievalist, Victorin Doucet, O.F.M., began work on a critical edition of Scotus's Questions on the Metaphysics ofAristotle in the 1930's, but apparently was required to abandon the project in favor of an edition of the Summa fratris Alexandri Halensis, a theological Summa compiled by Alexander of Hales and his colleagues. Even prior to Doucet's work on the Metaphysics, it had been recommended, in the late 1920s, that Philotheus Boehner, O.F.M. come to Quaracchi to work on a critical edition of Scotus's logical works. Perhaps for reasons of poor health, Boehner never went to Quaracchi to pursue this task. At the Franciscan Institute, over a half century later, the Ockham edition was nearing completion, except for the final volume containing works which were probably not by Ockham himself. For this volume, it was decided that the work would be completed by Gedeon Gal, Girard Etzkorn and Francis Kelly in their 'spare time'. At this juncture, the research team of the Franciscan Institute decided to undertake two major editions, namely the Lectura Secunda oí Adam Wodeham and the philosophical works of John Duns Scotus. It had been apparent for some time that the Scotist Commission in Rome, headed by C. Balk and subsequently by Luca Modric, would never in the lifetime of its collaborators be able to undertake the critical edition of Scotus's philosophical works. In order for the Franciscan Institute's project to proceed, a formal agreement was entered into with the Scotist Commission in Rome, dated June 14, 1983, wherein the conditions for collaboration were specified and agreed to by both parties. The salient features of this agreement were as follows: 1) the Franciscan Institute's research team would 118GIRARD ETZKORN have the exclusive rights to produce the critical edition of Scotus's philosophical works beginning with his Questions on the Metaphysics ofAristotle; 2) the Institute's research team would follow norms and criteria for critical editing in use by the Scotist Commission; 3) the volumes would be printed in the editio Vaticana with the printing costs paid by the General Curia of the Order of Friars Minor; 4) the Franciscan Institute would be solely responsible for the financial support required for the research involved in the critical editing of Scotus's philosophical works; 5) the Scotist Commission in Rome would retain 'supervisory rights' and the right for the 'final word' with regard to each volume of the philosophical works. The Franciscan Institute's research team applied for and successfully obtained a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to begin the task of critical editing, initially in conjunction with the Wodeham edition undertaken by Fr. Gedeon Gal and Dr. Rega Wood with Scotus's Questions on the Metaphysics being done by Dr. Girard Etzkorn (project director) in collaboration with Dr. Francis Kelley, Fr. Romuald Green, O.F.M. and Fr. George Marcil, O.F.M. Etzkorn obtained his doctorate in philosophy from the Université de Louvain in 1961. Subsequently he taught at Our Lady of Angels Seminary (Cleveland, Ohio-Quincy, Illinois.) and at Quincy College. Prior to coming to St. Bonaventure University in 1973, he edited (in collaboration with Ignatius Brady, O.F.M.) Roger Marston's Quodlibeta Quattuor and translated two major works of the contemporary philosopher Michael Henry. In addition to his contribution to the Ockham edition—editor or co-editor of sixvolumes —he has likewise edited John Pecham's Quodlibeta Quattuor. Etzkorn has authored 27 scholarly articles and 11 critical reviews. Kelley matriculated at Oxford University where he obtained the doctor of philosophy degree in 1977. He studied under the eminent medievalist, D. A. Callus, O.P. He taught at Providence College, Merrimack College, and Christian Brothers College (Memphis, Term.) before coming to the Franciscan Institute in 1975. He was co-editor of five volumes of the Ockham edition and produced critical editions of works by the Dominican philosophertheologians Thomas Sutton and Richard...