Étienne Gilson, Duns Scotus, and Actual Existence: Weighing the Charge of “Essentialism” Cover Image

Étienne Gilson, Duns Scotus, and Actual Existence: Weighing the Charge of “Essentialism”
Étienne Gilson, Duns Scotus, and Actual Existence: Weighing the Charge of “Essentialism”

Author(s): Andrew C. Helms
Subject(s): Christian Theology and Religion, Metaphysics, Existentialism, Philosophy of Religion
Published by: International Étienne Gilson Society
Keywords: existentialism; essentialism; actus essendi; Duns Scotus; essences;

Summary/Abstract: Étienne Gilson juxtaposes what he calls Aquinas’s “existentialism” to what he calls Scotus’s “essentialism.” For Gilson, “existentialism” is philosophical truth, the only view compatible with an authentically Christian metaphysic, while “essentialism” is a Hellenic mistake that seduces Christian philosophers by appealing to the idolatrous desire to reduce reality to what is intelligible. In this paper, the author attempts to describe the difference between “essentialism” and “existentialism” as understood by Gilson. Then, he assesses the case for attributing “essentialism” to Scotus, based on an assessment of Scotus texts and secondary scholarship.

  • Issue Year: 6/2017
  • Issue No: 3
  • Page Range: 331-364
  • Page Count: 34
  • Language: English