The Singular Voice of Being: John Duns Scotus and Ultimate Difference (Medieval Philosophy: Texts and Studies)

__The Singular Voice of Being: John Duns Scotus and Ultimate Difference__ reconsiders John Duns Scotus’s well-covered theory of the univocity of being in light of his less explored discussions of ultimate difference. Ultimate difference is a notion introduced by Aristotle and known by the Aristotelian tradition, but one that, the book argues, Scotus radically retrofits to buttress his doctrine of univocity. Ultimate difference for Aristotle meant the last difference in a line of specific differences whereby all the preceding differences would be united into a single substance rather than remain a heapish multiplicity. Scotus both broadens and deepens the term such that, in the end, it comes to resemble its Aristotelian ancestor more in name than in substance. This is because Scotus broadens ultimate difference to include not only specific differences, but also intrinsic modes of being (e.g., finite/infinite) and principles of individuation (i.e., __haecceitates__). Furthermore, he deepens it by divorcing it from anything with categorial classification, such as substantial form. Rather, by linking ultimate difference to primary diversity irreducible to opposition, privation, or contradiction, Scotus responds to the long-standing Parmenidean arguments against the division of being. Differentiation is not a fall from the perfect unity of being. Rather, ultimate difference divides being by perfective determination of this otherwise indifferent concept. The division of being culminates in individuation as the final degree of perfection, which constitutes indivisible (i.e., singular) degrees of being. Cover 1 THE SINGULAR VOICE OF BEING 2 Title 6 Copyright 7 CONTENTS 8 List of Abbreviation 10 Introduction: Solomon’s Difficulty 14 Prologue 14 To Cut Being at Its Joints 14 The Inadequacy of Thought and Language 17 Vain Repetition and the Division of Being 21 On What Follows 23 On Why It Matters 26 PART I. BEING AND ULTIMATE DIFFERENCE 28 1. Being Is Said in Many Ways 30 Univocity, Equivocity, Analogy 30 Univocity of Being 36 Aquinas and Henry on Analogy 42 Why Univocity? 46 Thales’s Mistake 51 2. The Real Concept of Being 54 Real Concepts 54 Transcendental Quid and Quale 60 The Double Primacy of Being 63 How Does Scotus Solve the Problems of Univocity? 66 Putting the World Back Together Too Soon 70 3. Ultimate Difference 74 Ultimate Differences 75 Extracategorial Difference 80 The Real Basis of Ultimately Differential Concepts 82 The Ground of Primary Diversity 83 Termination of Quidditative Orders 99 PART II. REGIONS OF ULTIMATE DIFFERENCE 104 4. The First Cut—The Intrinsic Modes of Being 106 Intrinsic Modes and the Modal Distinction 106 The Intrinsic Modes of Being 108 Transcendental Magnitude 111 Infinite and Finite Magnitudes 113 Nonadditive Intensity 122 5. Ultimate Specific Differences 133 The Formal Distinction 133 Ultimate versus Nonultimate Specific Differences 137 Scotus’s Innovation 144 Real Community Prior to the One and Many 152 A Dust Cloud of Differences? 158 6. Haecceitas, or Naked Singularity 163 What Must Individuation Explain? 164 Matter as the Principle of Individuation 166 What Else Is (Not) the Principle of Individuation? 170 Haecceitas as Ultimate Individual Difference 178 The Threefold Comparison to Ultimate Specific Differences 181 Bare Particularity versus Naked Singularity 190 Conclusion: I Wouldn’t Know Him from Adam 194 The Intelligibility of Singulars 195 Singular Volitions 200 Postscript 204 Acknowledgments 206 Notes 208 Bibliography 262 Index 276 The Singular Voice of Being reconsiders John Duns Scotus’s well-studied theory of the univocity of being in light of his less explored discussions of ultimate difference. Ultimate difference is a notion introduced by Aristotle and known by the Aristotelian tradition, but one that, this book argues, Scotus radically retrofits to buttress his doctrine of univocity. Scotus broadens ultimate difference to include not only specific differences, but also intrinsic modes of being (e.g., finite/infinite) and principles of individuation (i.e., haecceitates). Furthermore, he deepens it by divorcing it from anything with categorical classification, such as substantial form. Scotus uses his revamped notion of ultimate difference as a means of dividing being, despite the longstanding Parmenidean arguments against such division. The book highlights the unique role of difference in Scotus’s thought, which conceives of difference not as a fall from the perfect unity of being but rather as a perfective determination of an otherwise indifferent concept. The division of being culminates in individuation as the final degree of perfection, which constitutes indivisible (i.e., singular) degrees of being. This systematic study of ultimate difference opens new dimensions for understanding Scotus’s dense thought with respect to not only univocity, but also to individuation, cognition, and acts of the will. 'The Singular Voice of Being' reconsiders John Duns Scotus's well-covered theory of the univocity of being in light of his less explored discussions of ultimate difference. Ultimate difference is a notion introduced by Aristotle and known by the Aristotelian tradition, but one that, the text argues, Scotus radically retrofits to buttress his doctrine of univocity Reconsiders John Duns Scotus’s theory of the univocity of being in connection to his conception of ultimate difference. Develops a systematic account of ultimate difference from disparate discussions throughout his corpus.