The Philosophy of John Scottus Eriugena: A Study of Idealism in the Middle Ages

by Dermot Moran

This work is a substantial contribution to the history of philosophy. Its subject, the ninth-century philosopher John Scottus Eriugena, developed a form of idealism that owed as much to the Greek Neoplatonic tradition as to the Latin fathers and anticipated the priority of the subject in its modern, most radical German idealism. Moran has written the most comprehensive study yet of Eriugena's philosophy, tracing the sources of his thinking and analyzing his most important text, the Periphyseon. This volume will be of special interest to historians of mediaeval philosophy, history, and theology.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction

350 pages, Hardcover

First published February 24, 1989

About the author

Dermot Moran is currently the inaugural holder of the Joseph Chair in Catholic Philosophy at Boston College and he also served as Chair of the Philosophy Department until June 2023. Previously, he held the full Professorship of Philosophy (Chair of Metaphysics and Logic) at University College Dublin, from 1989 to his retirement. At its General Assembly in Athens, Greece, on 9th August 2013, Professor Dermot Moran was elected President of the International Federation of Philosophical Societies/ Fédération Internationale des Sociétés de Philosophie (FISP), for a five-year period from 2013 to 2018. As President of FISP, he also presided over the 24th World Congress of Philosophy held in Beijing, China, 13-20 August 2018. He is now Past President of FISP (2018 to 2024) involved in organizing the 25th World Congress of Philosophy, Rome, Italy, 1-8 August 2024.

In 2003 Dermot Moran was elected Member of the Royal Irish Academy and in 2016 he was elected to the Institut International de Philosophie. Professor Moran was awarded the Royal Irish Academy Gold Medal in the Humanities in 2012. He was awarded the higher doctorate, DLitt Degree, on the basis of published works by the National University of Ireland in 2013.

He previously lectured in the Department of Scholastic Philosophy at Queen’s University Belfast (1979-1982) and in the Department of Philosophy at St Patrick’s College, Maynooth (1982-1989), then a Recognized College of the National University of Ireland, and now Maynooth University. He has held Visiting Professorships in the USA, including at Yale University (1986-1987), Connecticut College (1992-1993), Rice University (Fall 2003 and Spring 2006), Northwestern University (2007), and internationally the Chinese University of Hong Kong (Summer 2010). He was Gadamer Visiting Professor at Boston College (Spring 2015). He also served as Walter Murdoch Adjunct Professor in the Humanities, Murdoch University, Perth, Australia (2012-2015).

Dermot Moran was Director of the International Centre of Newman Studies in UCD promoting the legacy of John Henry Cardinal Newman, first Rector of the Catholic University, Dublin, 1954-1858. He is now Chairperson of the Board of the UCD Newman Centre for the Study of Religions.

Dermot Moran was an elected member of the Executive of the Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy (2013-2016).

On 26 October 2015 Professor Dermot Moran was awarded an Honorary Doctoral Degree in Philosophy by the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens “for his contribution to the promotion of Philosophy in general and with regard to his field of research in particular”. In December 2016, he was awarded an Honorary Professorship in the Department of Philosophy, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China. He was awarded an Honorary Professorship, School of Philosophy, Nankai University, Tienjen, People’s Republic of China. 17 October 2019; and Honorary Professorship, Philosophy, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China. July 2019.

Reviews

[Joel Zartman · Rating 2 out of 5]

It is a worthwhile book because of all the Eriugena that is explained though I don't think his thesis is persuasive. His thesis is that way back in the 9th century Eriugena figured out a philosophy of non being, anticipating 20th century ideas. The mistake, besides the sheer and implausible anachronism, consists in believing Eriugena's perspectival relativism is absolute, rather than relative. Non-being, which Moran takes to be a fundamental category, is a relative term for Eriugena.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting that this guy was able to write what he did, "innovative" the author calls it, at the time he did, without losing his life. But maybe he did because little to nothing is known about him after his writings. His philosophy includes snippets of thoughts that could be connected to later great, well known thinkers from several schools or camps of philosophy but there isn't any evidence presented that Descartes and Spinoza knew of his works. He isn't the first panentheist and his philosophy is too human-centric for me to consider him a good one.

It was too easy for me to see it as man conceived of God to explain creation and nature's existence and man's being and mind, and decided in our egotistical way that we must be created in God's image. Eriugena takes it the next logical step for our self absorbed species to say if Man is God's image than Man is God. If A = B then B - A. Eriugena seems to be saying that yet also says that God is nature, God is everything. So Man is everything too? Yes, apparently. Yet Eriugena clings to Christ and the trinity and other key beliefs that separate God from the rest of creation, yet he wants us to see the created and noncreated as part of one whole. That last bit is consistent in my mind with panetheism but breaking God back up int a trinity and Christ as ideal man seems inconsistent.

So I'm left thinking he played the Shakespearean jester or fool in the kingly court of France. Bits of wisdom but mostly a loony. Eventually one tires of these types so I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't disappear because he was finally, unceremoniously cast out. No grand decree or edict required.

But, I'm not a schooled philosopher and know next to nothing about the 9th century of western philosophy other than the "greatest hits" that make it into the historical surveys of more recent times (itwas Bertrand Russel's 1945 survey that introduced me to Eriugena and intrigued me enough to read this book). That task accomplished, I will move on with my life, perhaps on an occasion or two that I can't yet imagine, reflecting on what I read in this book.