Ethical Method of John Duns Scotus

Chapter IV. The Harmony Of Goodness: Mutuality As A Context For Scotus' Moral Framework

Natural Law, Modernity, and Proportionalism / 55 Section II. The Framework of Scotus' Moral Perspectives Chapter IV. The Harmony Of Goodness: Mutuality As A Context For Scotus' Moral Framework A. Introduction Ever since Alasdaire MacIntyre's seminal work After Virtue (1981) called for a different reading of the moral debate and the development of moral theory in the West, scholars have turned to a rediscovery of Aristotle in an attempt to uncover what is missing from moral discourse. A fruitful avenue for such research and discussion may lie within the Franciscan tradition and specifically in the writings of Duns Scotus. The Subtle Doctor holds an interesting place, at the close of the 13th century, between the waning of classical philosophical theory and the rise of modern philosophical reflection. Scotus' emphasis upon freedom and the will at the center of the moral realm prepares the way for philosophers of the Enlightenment, Kant in particular. At the same time, Scotus relies heavily upon the legacy of classical thought, and particularly upon the patrimony of medieval philosophical and theological reflection. In what I hope is not too optimistic an assessment, Scotus might be said to hold the best of both worlds: the harmony of Aristotelian virtue-ethics with the 56 / Scotus: Contemporary Implications of his Thought importance of individuality and self-determination in the moral realm. As representative of a high water mark in the dialogue between thinkers and believers, between Aristotle and Christianity, Scotus has insights, I believe, to inform our current ethical reflection and to challenge some contemporary ethicall paradigms. A renewed understanding of Scotist moral thinking may call us to re-think the way we consider the moral life in general as well as the moral agent and moral actions in particular. What might this challenge and re-thinking entail? First, I hope it would involve the expansion of the moral realm to include all of human life, not merely specific moral dilemmas or problems where values are in confrontation. Second, I suggest we may need to replace a technological or mechanistic paradigm with one which better corresponds to human living, such as an organic or artistic understanding of moral life as an activity of beauty and wholeness. Scotus may offer us just such a paradigm. B. The Moral Realm of John Duns Scotus Along with other medieval thinkers, Scotus presents an expanded moral realm, one which identifies the moral goal as intimately related to the dimension of spirituality, and thus as participating in the entire journey of human living. It is in many ways a theory which is more wholistic than contemporary alternatives, since it brings together abstract reflection and intuition, affection and principle, nature and grace. These work together to promote human excellence as imitation of and participation in divine love and goodness. Scotus opens his Ordinatio with a Prologue in which he states that the object Natural Law, Modernity, and Proportionalism / 57 (subiectum) of moral science is not an abstract moral excellence, but rather the perfection of the moral person.115 In this chapter I argue that the centrality of mutual relationships among various moral elements in Scotus offers us a refreshing context for moral discussion: one which balances a regard for the autonomy of individual aspects within a larger context of inter-dependence. I call this relationship mutuality, and I understand this to mean a dynamic state of reciprocity among two or more individuals, having the same relationship toward one another and sharing something in common. The moral realm is for Scotus a dynamic one, and the inter-dependence existing among the elements of moral living has both internal and external dimensions. Internally, the moral goal is promoted by means of the mutuality of balance between knowing and loving (intellect and will) and between natural and free goodness. Externally, this same goal is achieved through a mutuality of harmony among several aspects: the moral science required for right reasoning, the moral virtue of right choice, the circumstances surrounding any given act of choice, and the divine response of acceptance (acceptatio) which completes the moral act by raising it to the order of meritorious goodness. Despite my optimism about what may be discovered in Scotus, I am aware of the difficulties inherent in this endeavor. First, the texts themselves are not forthcoming. Scotus does not set out to provide us with the sort of moral purpose which Aquinas does. He was a brilliant metaphysician, and was...