Abstract

Though numbered as volume 3, this superb offering to the philosophical world is the first installment in the critical edition of Duns Scotus’s philosophical works, separated some years ago from the theological works still being critically edited in Rome. There are no major surprises with respect to the authenticity of the work : as has long been known, only books 1 through 9 of the Wadding Quaestiones subtilissimae are authentic. The present editors believe however that the presumed author of the other Metaphysics texts once attributed to Scotus, the Scotist Antonius Andreas, is probably a good guide to the thought of the master. The introduction makes a convincing case for the position that the Quaestiones must not simply be viewed as “an early work”; much evidence indicates Scotus was constantly adding to it, and the editors are fully confident that they have correctly identified many authentic additions which they present as such in the text. The text is clearly and beautifully presented and divided, with Scotus’s various interlocutors identified to the extent possible. No more will the reader of Scotus’s Quaestiones have to wonder if he has even succeeded in distinguishing the Subtle Doctor from the objectors! That being said, the Quaestiones remains an extremely difficult work, even for Scotus: the writing is allusive and sparse and the Latin sometimes barbarous. The critical apparatus provides extensive quotations from Scotus’s sources; the brief interpretative notes by the editors are rare. The indexes are very detailed.