The Analysis of Duns Scotus' Principle of Individuation

Abstract

The issue of universals is one of the most primary questions in the scholasticism. There is a long-term debate which is on this issue between the nominalism and the realism. The debate focuses on the question that whether the universal has an extramental reality. Duns Scotus doesn't directly treat the problem of the reality of universals, but rather addresses it though a new way, that is, in the course of determining the principle of individuation. In this course, he accords the individual a true reality and admits as a consequence that the individual is per se intelligible. Thus, Duns Scotus' discussion on the principle of individuation has an important theory meaning and practice meaning.

Alternate abstract:

共相问题是经院哲学的主要问题之一。围绕共相问题，唯名论和实在论展开了长期的论争，论争的焦点在于共相是否是独立于心灵之外而在实在上存在。邓•司各脱并没有直接探讨这个问题，而是从一种新的思路出发，即在确立其个体化原理的过程中加以说明。在这个过程中，他赋予个体一个真正的实在，并由此认为个体本质上是可理解的。因此，他对个体化原理的探讨具有重要的理论意义和实践意义。