John Duns Scotus · Theology

The Formal Distinction: Less Than Real, More Than Mental

Scotus&rsquo;s subtlest tool - the <em>distinctio formalis a parte rei</em>, a distinction in the thing itself that is less than a real distinction between separable things, yet more than a merely mental one - used to hold together divine simplicity and real attributes, the soul and its powers, and nature and haecceity.

What you'll be able to recall

You learned that Scotus introduced a third kind of distinction between the real (separable things) and the conceptual (mind-made): the formal distinction a parte rei , which holds between formally different but really identical and inseparable aspects of one thing. Explain how it works and why he needed it for the div…

Leads to William of Ockham.

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