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Blessed John Duns Scotus (c. 1266 – November 8 , 1308 ) was a Theologian , Philosopher , and Logician . Some argue that during his tenure at Oxford , the notion of what differentiates Theology from Philosophy and Science began in earnest. He was born in Duns , Borders , Scotland . Ordained a priest in Northampton , England , he studied and taught at Oxford and Paris , and probably also at Cambridge . He was, however, expelled from the University of Paris for siding with Pope Boniface VIII against Philip The Fair of France. Finally, he came to Cologne , Germany , in 1307 . Duns Scotus was one of the most important Franciscan theologians and was the founder of Scotism , a special form of Scholasticism . He was known as Doctor Subtilis because of his subtle merging of differing views. Later philosophers were not so complimentary about his work, and the modern word ''dunce'' comes from the name "Dunse" given to his followers. He died in Cologne and is buried in the Church of the by Pope John Paul II on March 20 , 1993 . THEOLOGY Perhaps the most influential point of Duns Scotus theology was his defense of the , given in advance, she was conceived without the stain of original sin. This argument appears in Pope Pius IX 's declaration of the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception. Pope John XXIII recommended the reading of Duns Scotus' theology to modern theology students. Scotus is usually associated with Voluntarism , the tendency to emphasize God's will and human freedom in all philosophical issues. LOGIC Scotus was perhaps one of the most influential medieval logicians, in the ranks of Peter Abelard and William Of Ockham . He was the one of the first medieval logicians to break from the Aristotle 's statistical model of possibility and necessity, and to consider instead the concept of logical possibility. His theory moves from considering modal notions with respect to different ways the actual world is arranged at certain times to one where modal notions are considered with respect to conceptual consistency. This interpretation of possiblity and necessity thus foreshadows Leibniz 's Possible Worlds conception of modality. Duns Scotus also originated the concept of Haecceity , or an entity's "thisness", its particularity, as oppose to Quiddity , the entity's "whatness", its universality. SEE ALSO BIBLIOGRAPHY
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