The tradition of Scotus

Abstract At Paris and elsewhere many Franciscan theologians followed Scotus closely, rejecting Ockham’s proposed modifications to Scotus’s modal account of subsistence, and holding instead that all creatures have a natural inclination to subsistence. This chapter provides an account of the ways in which some of these theologians attempted to defend Scotus’s position against Ockham’s attack, and, relatedly, some of the ways in which they attempted to plug some perceived gaps in the details of Scotus’s Christology. The chapter concludes with a discussion of Pico della Mirandola, who expressly situated his Christological speculations in the context of a broadly Scotist approach to the question.