Introduction

The Lectura and the Ordinatio contain many analytical and conceptual praenotanda or introductions which serve as preliminary analyses. The requirements of a theological revolution permanently press in the direction of new logical, semantic and ontological investigations. Important parts are theological parallels to Wittgenstein's philosophical investigations. The ordinary language of common life and common sense is the source of logical-philosophical creativity for the latter, the ordinary language of faith is so for the former, within the context of a powerful tradition of systematic theology. However, if we had the impression that Duns was driven by some religious wishful thinking we would easily mislead ourselves. Nothing is further from his mind. Apart from general human understanding and an open philosophical mind, the only ingredients required for studying Duns Scotus' philosophy are knowledge of medieval Christianity, its Latin and its Bible, and logical canons of consistency.

Attention must be paid to a series of topics important for understanding Scotus' way of analyzing systematic issues once we have cleared the way with some introductory remarks on the significance of his logical writings (§4.2): the subject matter of logic (§4.3), meaning (§4.4) and the problem of meaning and the problem of knowledge (§4.5), concept (§4.6), proposition (§4.7), negation (§4.8), truth (§4.9), logical impossibility and logical possibility (§4.10), elements of the theory of relation (§4.11) and a concluding section summing up John Duns' early development and its impact (§4.12).