The Harmony of Goodness: Mutuality and Moral Living According to John Duns Scotus - Softcover

Mary Beth Ingham

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0819909696 ISBN 13: 9780819909695

Publisher: Franciscan Press, 1996

Synopsis

In The Harmony of Goodness, Mary Beth presents the ethical vision of John Duns Scotus (1265-1308) in an integrated manner, bringing together aspects of virtue, moral reasoning, free choice, rational judgment, and spirituality as parts of a whole human life. As Ingham writes, My own reading of Scotus has been informed by his concern to speak of the morally good act as a beautiful work of art, and of the moral agent as a formed artist. I examine the moral philosophy of John Duns Scotus as if it were a wind chime: composed of several independent elements, all interrelated in such a way that their mutual interaction produces the harmony which is goodness (Introduction, xiv). This work examines the ethical thought of Scotus according to his notion of mutuality or relationship. It is this basic concept, and not freedom, which offers a fruitful avenue for discovery of the contemporary relevance of this Franciscan philosopher-theologian. This study brings to light Scotus' integrated vision of human moral living.

About this title

About the Author

Sean L. Field holds an A.B. from the University of Michigan (1992), and an M.A. (1997) and Ph.D. (2002) in medieval history from Northwestern University. He is currently Associate Professor of History at the University of Vermont, where he has taught since 2003. His books include The Writings of Agnes of Harcourt: The Life of Isabelle of France and the Letter on Louis IX and Longchamp (University of Notre Dame Press, 2003); Isabelle of France: Capetian Sanctity and Franciscan Identity in the Thirteenth Century (University of Notre Dame Press, 2006); and The Beguine, the Angel and the Inquisitor: The Trials of Marguerite Porete and Guiard of Cressonessart (University of Notre Dame Press, 2012). Most recently, he has edited (with Robert E. Lerner and Sylvain Piron) a collection of essays entitled Marguerite Porete et le Miroir des simples âmes: Perspectives historiques, philisophiques, et littéraires (Vrin, 2013), and published (with Larry F. Field and M. Cecilia Gaposchkin) The Sanctity of Louis IX: Early Lives of Saint Louis by Geoffrey of Beaulieu and William of Chartres (Cornell University Press, 2014).

About this edition

• Publisher: Franciscan Press
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0819909696
• ISBN 13: 9780819909695
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 159