John Duns Scotus

[deckardcanine]

Medieval friar John Duns Scotus (yes, he was a Scot)
Was highly influential in the realm of Catholic thought
And even for the secular philosophers of old,
Tho of his life outside his work, quite little has been told.

One doctrine he set forth: the univocity of being.
It means that words applied to God and men must be agreeing
In definition; thus, if we describe a man as “good,”
It means he has a property Jehovah also would.

Disciples of Duns Scotus called what makes a thing distinct
“Haecceity” (like “thisness”). In some lexicons, it’s linked
To “quiddity” or “essence,” but it’s really the reverse
Of common traits to which the essence properly refers.

I won’t go into each Duns Scotus tenet in my rhymes.
My point is how his reputation suffered with the times.
Within the next few centuries, the English Reformation
Was bent against Franciscans, so he faced excoriation.

Some called the Scotists “dunses,” which at first implied pedantic,
Sophistic traits, but then it underwent a change semantic.
A “dunce” was just a fool, and conic hats the Scotists wore
Became a form of punishment a failing student bore.

But Catholic Europeans still acclaimed Duns Scotus’ work,
And by the 1960s, few would see him as a jerk.
For my part, I’m unsure he got a lot of concepts right,
But he’s too smart to have his name be treated as a slight.