How could you not love that face?
Don’t worry, I’m not going all gushy on myself. Nor do I expect you to.
So one of the things I do to escape from stress is to read about the history of philosophy. So far I have a rough knowledge of Western thought from the Greeks up through about the beginning of the fourteenth century, and a couple bits of Muslim, Indian, and Chinese philosophy from various parts of history.
Anyway, I was reading about John Duns Scotus (ca. 1265 – 1308) in Frederick Copleston’s masterpiece, and I came across the following provocative passage:
Scotus often gave a peculiar stamp or emphasis to the elements he adopted from tradition. Thus in his treatment of the relation of the will to intellect he emphasized freedom rather than love, though he held, it is true, to the superiority of love to knowledge….
This helped me to articulate something I’ve known for some time but have never quite managed to say clearly.
Let me ask you a question. What does your will do? What is the action of your will? What is its purpose?
Okay, that was three questions, or at least, (more…)
