On Thinking the Real with Duns Scotus, by Richard A. Lee, Jr.
Lee reflects on the fact that many thinkers throughout the history of philosophy use Duns Scotus’ thought, and specifically readings of his conception of the real, in order to construct their theories. Lee focuses on the works of Marx, Pierce, and Deleuze to show the breadth of influence that Scotus’ work has in giving thinkers the tools to construct ideas of the real in their own projects. By tracing Scotus’ argument for the real through seven different questions about individuation and demonstrating the Aristotelian roots of his thinking about the real, Lee gives a detailed account of Scotus’ conception of the real. By reading the above mentioned philosophers through a Scotus-based lens, Lee argues that one can reach a better understanding of thinkers such as Marx and Deleuze and also gain a clearer picture of Scotus’ thought in a way that places him outside both materialism and nominalism.
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Richard A. Lee, Jr. is Professor of Philosophy at DePaul University. He is the author of two books, The Force of Reason and the Logic of Force (Palgrave Macmillan, 2004) and Science, the Singular, and the Question of Theology (Palgrave Macmillan, 2002). Among his numerous articles are “The History of Philosophy as Perversion: On Karmen MacKendrick,” Journal of Speculative Philosophy 26 (2012); “Breaking with Normativity: Reiner Schürmann’s Readings of Medieval Philosophy,” Philosophy Today 53 (2009); and “Tracing the Logic of Force,” Epoché 8:1 (2003).
Richard A. Lee, Jr.,”On Thinking the Real with Duns Scotus,” Graduate Faculty Philosophy Journal 36:1 (2015), pp. 75–89.