Ens reale, ens rationis, or Something In-Between

The Scotist Angelo Volpe (d. 1647) on the Status of esse cognitum

Bibliographic Data

ID21407795
AuthorsClaus A Andersen (0000-0002-7042-2001, University of South Bohemia Department for Philosophy and Religious Studies, Faculty of Theology České Budějovice Czech Republic, corresponding author)
Year2024
Volume62
Issue1
Pages58-89
Publication date2024-02-15
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueVivarium (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0042-7543 • E-ISSN: 1568-5349
PublisherWalter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1163/15685349-06201003
OpenAlexW4393060177
LanguageEN
References cited6

The ontological status of esse cognitum was at the center of complex debates throughout the Scotist tradition (Alnwick vs. Aesculo, Mastri vs. Punch). This article investigates the Scotist Angelo Volpe’s discussion of esse cognitum enjoyed by possible creatures in the divine intellect. Volpe responds to two religious warnings, one against assuming any eternal real being for merely possible creatures, and a second against depriving God’s eternal knowledge of a corresponding object, since that would endanger this knowledge itself. Volpe opts for a solution that allows possible creatures the status of beings of reason ( entia rationis ) due to their own ontological merit, and the status of real beings ( entia realia ) due to God’s knowing that they as possibles are not in opposition to real existence. He rejects the view that esse cognitum is a kind of being that holds a middle position between real being and being of reason. Volpe’s historical significance is emphasized

Creatures · Epistemology · Intellect · Natural (archaeology) · Object (grammar) · Opposition (politics) · Political science · Classical Philosophy and Thought · Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies · History · Law · Medieval and Classical Philosophy · Philosophy

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