Scotus vs. Ockham

Booknews

Volume one contains texts, translated from Latin, of the debate between the two Franciscans Duns Scotus (1266-1308) and William of Ockham (1285-1347); they include Scotus' theory of distinctions and of universals and individuation, and a critique by Ockham. Volume Two offers commentary by Martin M. Tweedale (philosophy, U. of Alberta). Tweedale intended the work to be used in graduate and undergraduate courses of medieval philosophy for students who do not read Latin, but during the two or three decades of production, he has found modern philosophers interested in the debates for practical rather than historical reasons. He assumes a certain familiarity with Plato and Aristotle and with the more common conceptual tools used in the analytic tradition of philosophy. The index entries identify the various meanings or contexts of word's use and refer to the specific appearance. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknew.com)