Alle origini del realismo. Appunti sull’ontologia di Scoto

I would discuss in this article some issue concerning Scotus Eriugena’s ontology. I will focus on De Divisione naturae and, in particular, on the concepts of ‘nature’, ‘essence/ substance’, ‘matter’, ‘form’, ‘species’ and ‘genus’. I will also pay attention to the way in which Scotus deals with some traditional logic themes, like that of individuation and universals. The underlying assumption is that (realist) philosophers of the ‘twelfth Century renaissance’ take in some consideration elements of Scotus’ ontology discussing the problem of universals. I tried to read Scotus language in a ‘neutral’ way, translating it literally, disregarding historical metaphysical interpretations (considered anyway in footnotes), rendering metaphors and literary texts in a comprehensible way, so far it is possible.