Annotated bibliography on the Philosophical Work of Eriugena (Third Part: McK - Z)

This part of the section History of Ontology includes the following pages:

Eriugena: Dialectic and Ontology in the Periphyseon

The Works of Eriugena: Editions and translations

Bibliography on the Philosophical Work of Eriugena:

Eriugena A - Mad

Eriugena Mai - McG

Eriugena McK - Z (Current page)

The section History of the Doctrine of Categories include the following page:

Eriugena, Periphyseon Book I: Aristotelian Logic and Categories

Index of the Pages on Medieval Philosophy

The publications by É. Jeauneau on Eriugena are cited in a separate page: Édouard Jeauneau sur la Philosophie Médiévale. Bibliographie Choisie.

N.B. Summaries cited from: Mary Brennan, A Guide to Eriugenian Studies. A Survey of Publications 1930-1987, are indicated with: (Brennan) and page number.

1. McKitterick, Rosamond. 1992. "Knowledge of Plato's 'Timaeus' in the Ninth Century. The Implications of Valenciennes, Bibliothèque municipale MS 293." In From Athens to Chartres. Neoplatonism and Medieval Thought. Studies in Honour of Edouard Jeauneau, edited by Westra, Haijo Jan, 85-95. Leiden: Brill.

   "There is no doubt that Plato’s Timaeus in Latin translation was known, at least to scholars, in the ninth century. John Scotus Eriugena and members of his circle, such as Remigius of Auxerre, reveal a familiarity with the content of this treatise, Calcidius’ translation is listed in the Reichenau catalogue of the second half of the ninth century, and it is Hucbald of St. Amand’s own copy of Chalcidius’ translation of, and commentary on, the Timaeus which survives in Valenciennes, Bibliothèque Municipale, MS 293. Nor is there any uncertainty as to the appeal such a text could have had in the Carolingian world. Its essentially philosophical and theological discussion of the divine creation of the world and natural phenomena, of elements of astronomy, the structure of matter and of human psychology and physiology, incorporates nevertheless a great deal of Greek scientific theory about the physical world. In a Christian context, there were obvious comparisons to be drawn with the creation story in Genesis, but its essentially scientific content was also in keeping with the other scientific and especially astronomical interests of Carolingian scholars." (p. 85, two notes omitted)

   (1) Quite apart from the Platonic structure of the work in dialogue form, see John Scotus Eriugena, Periphyseon (De divisione naturae) I, ed. I.P. Sheldon-Williams (Dublin, 1968) 114 (on the reason of the visible world) and 168 (on formless matter) and Periphyseon III, ed. I.P. Sheldon-Williams (Dublin, 1981) 206 (on the sun) and 291 (on the motion of bodies) where he specifically cites the Timaeus of Plato and commentary by Calcidius; Johannis Scoti Annotationes in Marcianum, ed. Cora E. Lutz (Cambridge, Mass., 1939) 22 and 202 (13.23 and 490.15); Remigius of Auxerre, Remigii Autissiodorensis Commentum in Martianum, ed. Cora E. Lutz (Leiden, 1962) vol. I, 7.10, 32.7, 63-68, pp. 76 and 125-126 and 181; vol. II, 422-429, 490.14, pp. 236-237, 323. Compare M. Cappuyns, Jean Scot Erigène (Louvain, 1933) 392.

   (2) P. Lehmann, Mittelalterliche Bibliothekskataloge Deutschlands und der Schweiz I (Munich, 1911) 266, line 2: ‘Kalchidius in Thymeum Platonis I’.

2. Meyendorff, John. 1994. "Remarks on Eastern Patristic Thought in John Scottus Eriugena." In Eriugena East and West, edited by McGinn, Bernard and Otten, Willemien, 51-68. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press.

3. Meyvaert, Paul. 1963. "The Exegetical Treatises of Peter the Deacon and Eriugena's Latin Rendering of the Ad Thalassium of Maximus the Confessor." Sacris Erudiri. A Journal of Late Antique and Medieval Christianity no. 14:130-148.

4. ———. 1973. "Eriugena's Translation of the Ad Thalassum of Maximus: Preliminaries to an Edition of this Work." In The Mind of Eriugena, edited by O'Meara, John Joseph and Bieler, Ludwig, 79-87. Dublin: Irish University Press.

5. Michalowska, Monika. 2011. "The Concept of Language in Eriugena’s Thought." In Eriugena - Cusanus, edited by Kijewska, Agnieszka, Majeran, Roman and Schwaetzer, Harald, 17-30. Lublin: Wydawnictwo KUL.

6. Mooney, Hilary A. 2009. Theophany: The Appearing of God According to the Writings of Johannes Scottus Eriugena. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck.

7. Moran, Dermot. 1978. "Wandering from the Path: Navigatio in the Philosophy of John Scottus Eriugena." The Crane Bag no. 2:96-102.

8. ———. 1979. ""Natura quadriformata" and the beginnings of "Physiologia" in the philosophy of Johannes Scottus Eriugena." Bulletin de Philosophie Médiévale no. 21:41-46.

9. ———. 1985. "Nature, Man and God in the Philosophy of John Scottus Eriugena." In The Irish Mind: Exploring Intellectual Traditions, edited by Kearney, Richard, 91-106. Dublin: Wolfhound Press.

10. ———. 1989. The Philosophy of John Scottus Eriugena: A Study of Idealism in the Middle Ages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Contents: Preface XI; Acknowledgments XV; Chronology XVI, List of abbreviations XVIII, 1. European intellectual culture in the ninth century 1; The monastic age in Ireland; 2. The predestination debate 27; 3. Eriugena’s life and early writings 35; 4. The Greek awakening 48; 5. The Periphyseon 58; 6. Eriugena as philosopher 81; 7. Eriugena’s sources 103; 8. Dialectic, philosophy, and the life of the mind 123; 9. The meaning of human nature 154; 10. Self-knowledge and self-definition: the nature of human knowing 186; 11. The meaning of non-being 212; 12. The meaning of nature 241; 13. Eriugena's influence on later mediaeval philosophy 269; 14. Conclusion 282; Bibliography 288; Index nominum 317; index rerum 324-333.

    "In this book I seek not only to expound Eriugena’s philosophy in its historical and cultural context in ninth-century France but also to evaluate the enduring significance of his philosophical system as a whole. This will, I believe, show Eriugena at his most original and most brilliant.

    The Western philosophical tradition has been characterised, in a somewhat misleading and overgeneralised manner, as centring on the concept of being from the time of the earliest Greek thinkers. Eriugena, inspired by Dionysius, departs from this tradition and regards non-being as equally as important as being in the study of the nature of reality as a whole. For Eriugena ontology is not the most fundamental or universal discipline; in fact, he develops a negative dialectic which counterbalances ontological affirmations and constructions with a radical meontology, giving the most detailed analysis of non-being since Plato’s Sophist and Parmenides.

    But Eriugena goes farther and anticipates many of the features of the modernist turn in philosophy begun by Descartes (1596-1650). Eriugena begins with a typical Carolingian psychology but is stimulated by Saint Augustine to develop an understanding of the cogito and a deep appreciation of inwardness, which was enriched by his encounter with the anthropology of the Greeks, especially Gregory of Nyssa. He does not stop there, however, but goes on to articulate, in his own terms, what might be called a philosophy of subjectivity. Eriugena sees the human subject as essentially mind. Everything is a product of mind - material reality, spatiotemporal existence, the body itself. In this sense, Eriugena is a thoroughgoing idealist. Matter is a commingling of incorporeal qualities which the mind mistakenly takes to be corporeal; spatiotemporal reality is a consequence of the seduction of the mind by the senses, which is the true Fall of Adam; the body itself is an externalisation of the secret desires of the mind. But more than that, the true being of all things is their being in the mind. Eriugena takes this to be a consequence of the scriptural revelation that the human mind is an image of the divine mind, and that the divine mind contains in itself the ideal exemplars of all things.

    (...)

    In this book, therefore, I shall discuss Eriugena’s philosophy both in terms of its mediaeval origins and in terms of the manner in which it appears to anticipate the turn towards the subject and towards idealism which is found in the modern philosophies of Descartes and Hegel.

    In interpreting Eriugena’s philosophy, I have concentrated almost exclusively on the Periphyseon, with the result that Eriugena’s later theological works, including his homily and his commentary on Dionysius, receive scant mention. I hope this book will contribute to the revival of interest in Eriugena which has taken place in this century, by offering a philosophical interpretation of his most important dialogue, the Periphyseon.".

11. ———. 1990. "Pantheism from John Scottus Eriugena to Nicholas of Cusa." American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly no. 64:131-152.

12. ———. 1992. "Time, Space and Matter in the Periphyseon. An Examination of Eriugena's Understanding of the Physical World." In At the Heart of the Real. Philosophical Essays in Honour of the Most Reverend Desmond Connell, Archbishop of Dublin, edited by O'Rourke, Fran, 67-96. Dublin: Irish Academic Press.

    "Eriugena has unusual theories of space, time and matter, theories which have led him to be called an immaterialist in the manner of Berkeley, or a critical idealist in the manner of Kant.(1) He may properly be termed an immaterialist with regard to his theory that sensible corporeal bodies are only apparently corporeal—for him physical bodies are a collection or assembly of incorporeal, insensible properties. He is labelled an idealist for his theory of place and time as categories in the mind, prior to all objects, and within which all empirical objects are contained. On this basis, the claim has been made that Eriugena is an original thinker and that his views should be accorded a respectful place in the history of philosophy. This article will examine Eriugena’s originality with regard to his theory of the nature of the material world.2 It will emerge that Eriugena indeed holds an immaterialist account of matter and of physical things, but that there are nuances in his theory which need to be addressed." (p. 67)

    (...)
    "Conclusion. To conclude, the motif of beauty in Augustine’s writings has allowed us to see that the basis of friendship is situated firmly in the context of the desire for, or delight in, the love of God. The desire for unity, truth, order, peace, virtue and benevolent love all find their focus in the desire for beauty, and Augustine always recognized that God alone is truly beautiful. In addition, while agreeing with the classical tradition that the experience of likeness provided the only acceptable basis for the attraction of, or delight in friendship, he nevertheless insisted that this likeness always referred primarily to one’s likeness to God. For him, it was inconceivable that one could attain a likeness either to oneself or to another without first becoming like God, because ultimately the very existence of being is itself dependent upon, or is an expression of, this likeness to God. In this fashion, Augustine’s insistence on situating friendship in the context of the love of spiritual beauty points inescapably to a metaphysical and religious foundation for friendship, namely our ontological dependence on God." (p. 96)

    (1) The nineteenth century commentators on Eriugena noticed the comparison with Kant. See T. Christlieb, Leben und Lehre des Johannes Scotus Erigena in ihrem Zusammenhang mit der vorhergehenden und unter Angabe ihrer Berührungspunkte mit der neueren Philosophie und Theologie (Gotha, 1860); see also W. Beierwaltes, 'The Revaluation of John Scottus Eriugena in German Idealism’, in J. J. O’Meara and L. Bieler, eds., The Mind of Eriugena (Dublin, 1973), pp. 190-9.

13. ———. 1992. "Origen and Eriugena. Aspects of Christian Gnosis." In The Relationship between Neoplatonism and Christianity, edited by Finan, Thomas and Twomey, Vincent, 27-53. Dublin: Four Court Press.

14. ———. 1996. "Eriugena's Theory of Language in the Periphyseon: Explorations in the Neoplatonic Tradition." In Ireland and Europe in the Early Middle Ages. IV. Learning and Literature, edited by Richter, Michael and Ní Chatháin, Proinseas, 238-258. Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta.

15. ———. 1999. "Idealism in Medieval Philosophy: The Case of Johannes Scottus Eriugena." Medieval Philosophy and Theology no. 8:53-82.

    "In this article I wish to re-examine the vexed issue of the possibility of idealism in ancient and medieval philosophy with particular reference to the case of Johannes Scottus Eriugena (c. 800-c. 877), the Irish Neoplatonic Christian philosopher. Both Bernard Williams and Myles Burnyeat have argued that idealism never emerged (and for Burnyeat, could not have emerged) as a genuine philosophical position in antiquity, a claim that has had wide currency in recent years, and now constitutes something of an orthodoxy. (1) Richard Sorabji (instancing Gregory of Nyssa) and Werner Beierwaltes (citing Proclus and Eriugena), and Eyjólfur Kjalar Emilsson (discussing Plotinus), on the other hand, have all argued that idealism is to be found in the Neoplatonic tradition, a tradition neglected by Burnyeat. (2) Similarly, in a 1989 study, I argued not only that idealism was a genuine possibility in late classical and in medieval philosophy, but that that the ninth-century Carolingian philosopher Johannes Eriugena presents a striking example of an extremely radical, almost fantastical, idealism. (3) Of course, the whole discussion depends entirely on what is meant by 'idealism'. Burnyeat uses Berkeley's immaterialism as his standard for idealism, and it is this decision, coupled with his failure to acknowledge the legacy of German idealism, which prevents him from seeing the classical and medieval roots of idealism more broadly understood." (pp. 53-54)

    (1) Myles Burnyeat, "Idealism and Greek Philosophy: What Descartes Saw and Berkeley Missed," Philosophical Review 91 (1982): 3-40, reprinted in Godfrey Vesey, ed., Idealism -- Past and Present (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982), pp. 19-50.

    (2) Richard Sorabji, "Gregory of Nyssa: The Origins of Idealism," in Time, Creation and Continuum. Theories in Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages (London: Duckworth, 1983), pp. 287-96; Werner Beierwaltes, Denken des Einen. Studien zur neuplatonischen Philosophie and ihrer Wirkungsgeschichte (Frankfurt: Klostermann, 1985). See also Beierwaltes, "Die Wiederentdeckung des Eriugena im Deutschen Idealismus," in Platonismus und Idealismus (Frankfurt: Klostermann, 1972), pp. 188-201, and his "Zur Wirkungsgeschichte Eriugenas im Deutschen Idealismus und danach. Eine kurze, unsystematische Nachlese," in Eriugena. Grundzüge seines Denkens (Frankfurt: Klostermann, 1994), pp. 313-330. Eyjólfur Kjalar Emilsson, "Cognition and its Object," in Lloyd P. Gerson, ed., The Cambridge Companion to Plotinus (Cambridge: Cambridge U.P., 1996), pp. 217-49, esp. pp. 245-49. But see, Lloyd P. Gerson, Plotinus (London: Routledge, 1994), p. 227, n. 3, who maintains that Plotinus is not an idealist.

    (3) Dermot Moran, The Philosophy of John Scottus Eriugena. A Study of Idealism in the Middle Ages (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989).

16. ———. 2002. "Time and Eternity in the Periphyseon." In History and Eschatology in John Scottus Eriugena and His Time, edited by McEvoy, James and Dunne, Michael, 487-508. Leuven: Leuven University Press.

    "In this paper I want to explore Johannes Eriugena’s characteristically rich and original treatment of one of the most central themes in the Platonic and Christian traditions, namely, the theme of time and eternity (or timelessness), in his massive cosmological dialogue, Periphyseon. Given the elaborate richness of his vision, in evaluating Eriugena’s commitment to Christian Platonism, we cannot then simply assume that he is repeating the accounts of time and eternity found, for example, in Plato’s Timaeus or in Augustine’s Confessiones. Eriugena is both a Platonist and a Christian, but he holds to both these doctrines in his own inimitable fashion, as a ninth-century author, heir to already ancient traditions." (p. 487)

    (...)

    "Conclusion

    I have tried to sketch here the complex manner in which Eriugena combines his philosophical understanding (drawn from Platonic and Aristotelian sources) of the space and time as part of the procession and exitus of the divine nature, as the absolute marks of creation, as the boundaries of the physical world imposed by the fallen human understanding, with the message of Scripture concerning the passing away of all places and times in contrast to the abiding nature of eternal truth. What is significant is how far Eriugena will go to marry his grammatical interpretation of temporal verbs referring to historical events or stages in Scripture with his philosophical critique of temporal predicates in God, to more or less elide entirely the temporal and historical understanding, and to promote the true theoria which leads to theosis and to timelessness. There remains, however, an unresolved tension between time as part of the divine process and time as a consequence of the Fall. Eriugena himself, of course, feels that these accounts do not contradict but can be accommodated within duplex theoria. Finally, his discussion of time and space as frameworks of the mind, which are absent from the true nous, both of human nature and of God, again confirms his idealism." (p. 507).

17. ———. 2004. "An Original Christian Platonism: Eriugena's response to the Tradition." In Bilan et perspectives des études médiévales (1993-1998). Euroconférence Barcelone, 8-12 juin 1999. Actes du IIe Congrès européen d'études médiévales, edited by Hamesse, Jacqueline, 467-487. Turnhout: Brepols.

    "In keeping with the theme of this FIDEM conference, « Medieval Studies Today and Tomorrow », in this contribution I want to report on the tremendous blossoming of studies in the philosophy of Johannes Scottus Eriugena, witnessed by the growth in critical editions, translations and critical discussions, over not just the past 10 years, but the past 30 years'. The man known to his contemporaries as Johannes Scottus (c.800 - c.877), and who signed himself ‘Eriugena’ (on the manuscript of his translation of Dionysius), is without doubt the most genuinely sophisticated philosopher of the Carolingian era, certainly to be ranked above such Carolingians as Alcuin1 2, and indeed, stands as the most important philosopher writing in Latin between Boethius and Anselm. He is also, though this parallel remains to be explored, more or less a contemporary of the Arab Neoplatonist Al-Kindi. Eriugena can also be seen as the most significant intellectual figure to emerge from monastic Ireland, the so-called Island of Saints and Scholars, between the sixth to the ninth century (in comparison with Sedulius Scottus or Columban), although his debt to early Irish culture remains much disputed, even allowing for the fact that he worked, at least in part, with Irish-speaking scholars." (p. 467).

18. ———. 2006. "Spiritualis Incrassatio: Eriugena's intellectualist immaterialism: is it an Idealism?" In Eriugena, Berkeley and the Idealist tradition, edited by Gersh, Stephen and Moran, Dermot, 123-150. Notre Dame: Indiana University Press.

19. ———. 2013. "Jean Scot Érigène, la connaissance de soi et la tradition idéaliste." Les Études philosophiques:29-56.

    Traduction de Juliette Lemaire.

20. ———. 2021. " Eriugena on the Five Modes of Being and Non-Being: Reflections on his Sources." In Studia Patristica Vol. CXXII: Vol. 19: Eriugena's Christian Neoplatonism and its sources in Patristic and Ancient Philosophy, edited by Ramelli, Ilaria, 73-95. Leuven: Peeters.

    Abstract: "In this article I examine the ‘five modes’ (quinque modi) of being and non-being of the ninth-century Irish Carolingian philosopher, Johannes Eriugena, as outlined in his dialogue, Periphyseon, especially in Books One and Three. Eriugena’s immediate Latin sources have been suggested as Augustine, Marius Victorinus, and Fredigedus, but he was also deeply influenced by passages in the Greek Christian Fathers, especially Gregory of Nyssa, Dionysius, and Maximus, particularly on God as ‘beyond being’, or as ‘non-being’, or ‘nothingness’ (nihilum). In this essay, I will review Eriugena’s bold and paradoxical claims about the non-being of the divine being and I shall evaluate the current research concerning its sources and its originality, and make the claim that the divine nothingness is Eriugena’s original contribution in the Periphyseon.".

21. Moulin, Isabelle, ed. 2016. Philosophie et théologie chez Jean Scot Érigène. Paris: Vrin.

    Table des matières: Remerciements 7; Table des Abréviations 9; Isabelle Moulin: Introduction 11; Alain de Libera: La problématique catégoriale du Periphyseon 17; Olivier Boulnois: La rose du néant. Scot Érigène et la manifestation de l’invisible 55; Stephen Gersh: The Ordo naturalis of Primordial Causes. Eriugena’s Transformation of the Dionysian Doctrine of Divine Names 83; Willemien Otten: Eriugena on Nature (Created, Human and Divine): From Christian Platonic Metaphysics to Early-Medieval Protreptic 113; Isabelle Moulin: Adam et le Christ : unification et médiation de la nature humaine chez Jean Scot Erigène 135; John Marenbon: Eriugena on Damnation in De Praedestinatione 161; Dermot Moran: John Scottus Eriugena and the Idealist Tradition of Christian

    Neoplatonism 179; Index Nominum 211; Liste des contributeurs 217.

22. Musto, Jeanne-Marie. 2001. "John Scottus Eriugena and the Upper Cover of the Lindau Gospels." Gesta no. 40:1-18.

23. Nuchelmans, Jan. 1991. "Hilduin et Jean Scot Erigène, traducteurs du Pseudo-Denys, devant l'infinitif substantivé grec." In Eulogia. Mélanges offerta à Antoon A. R. Bastiaensen à l'occasion de son soixante-cinquième anniversaire, edited by Bartelink, Gerard J.M., Hilhorst, A. and Kneepkens, Corneille H., 201-232. Den Haag: Martinus Nijhoff.

24. O'Meara, Dominic. 1977. "L'investigation et les investigateurs dan la De divisione naturae." In Jean Scot Érigène et l'histoire de la philosophie, edited by Roques, René, 225-234. Paris: Éditions du Centre national de la recherche scientifique.

    Reprinted in: D. O'Meara, The Structure of Being and the Search for the Good. Essays on Ancient and Early Medieval Platonism, Aldershot: Ashgate, 1998, Essay XX.

25. ———. 1981. "The Concept of Natura in John Scottus Eriugena (De divisione naturae Book I)." Vivarium no. 19:126-145.

    Reprinted in: D. O'Meara, The Structure of Being and the Search for the Good. Essays on Ancient and Early Medieval Platonism, Aldershot: Ashgate, 1998, Essay XXI.

    "In this article I shall attempt (I) to isolate as far as possible what Eriugena means by his concept of natura, by reviewing both the sources he was inspired by and his use of these sources in the elaboration of this concept. I shall then seek (II) to determine the bearing of this concept on the general inquiry conducted in the De divisione naturae by examining its relationship to conceptions presented immediately after it, i.e. the well-known fourfold division of nature and the fivefold classification of modes of being and non-being. Finally (III), the philosophical implications of Eriugena's conception of a study of natura (physiologia) will be discussed briefly insofar as this study is suggestive of an unusual metaphysical project.".

26. ———. 1990. "The Metaphysical Use of Mathematical Concepts in Eriugena." In Begriff und Metapher. Sprachform des Denkens bei Eriugena, edited by Beierwaltes, Werner, 142-148. Heidelberg: Carl Winter.

    Reprinted in: D. O'Meara, The Structure of Being and the Search for the Good. Essays on Ancient and Early Medieval Platonism, Aldershot: Ashgate, 1998, Essay XXIII.

    "The importance of arithmology as a feature not only of Eriugena’s work but also of other medieval systems has been rightly stressed by Edouard Jeauneau(1). Medieval thinkers followed in this respect the practice of their ancient sources; arithmology had already played an important part, not only in late antique literature, but also in hellenistic thought, and is already attested in Aristotle’s reports on pre-Platonic Pythagoreanism(2).

    “Arithmology”, as the term is used in modern scholarship, was made current especially, I believe, by Armand Delatte in the work he published toward the beginning of this century concerning ancient Pythagoreanism(3). He used the term in order to designate the associations made in ancient Pythagoreanism between numbers and various aspects of the world, of the gods and of human existence. Delatte regarded such associations as being a mixture of healthy scientific research and the (by implication unhealthy) phantasies of religion and philosophy. His judgement is clearly based on modern philosophical assumptions. It leaves open the question of how ancient thinkers (and their medieval successors) understood the sense of the associations they made between numbers and other things. It seems that here a wide spectrum of possibilities opens up, going from fairly arbitrary pairings of numbers with various phenomena to a developed philosophy of mathematics and its hermeneutic value for other sciences. Much depends on the background, if any, against which arithmology occurs in an ancient or medieval text."

    (...)

    "The questions which I propose to discuss briefly here concern Eriugena’s practice. How does he understand the arithmological associations he uses, as well as such associations as involve other mathematical objects like geometrical figures? Does his use have a philosophical background which explains and justifies it? What is the ultimate importance for him of such mathematical associations? Eriugena had access to some extent to the ideas on this subject of Proclus and of other ancient Neoplatonists through the works of Augustine and Boethius, Pseudo-Dionysius and Maximus, among others(5). If the idiosyncrasies of the tradition of texts imposed certain limits on Eriugena’s access to late antique Neoplatonism, yet his philosophical capacity was such as to make him capable of recovering some of its profoundest ideas." (pp. 142-143)

    (1) In his contribution to the present volume [Jean Scot et la métaphysique des nombres]. See also his “Mathématiques et Trinité chez Thierry de Chartres”, in Die Metaphysik im Mittelalter, ed. P. Wilpert {Miscellanea Mediaevalia Bd. 2), Berlin 1963, pp. 289-295.

    (2) Cf. W. Burkert, Lore and Science in Ancient Pythagoreanism, Cambridge (Mass.) 1972; D. O’Meara, Pythagoras Revived. Mathematics and Philosophy in Late Antiquity, Oxford 1989.

    (3) Etudes sur la littérature pythagoricienne, Paris 1915, pp. 139ff. Delatte finds the word used already in Greek in a manuscript of the 18th century. The Oxford English Dictionary gives it as an English word in a text of 1572.

    (5) See Jeauneau’s paper in the present volume. Much information on Eriugena’s sources can also be found in Jeauneau’s editions, in particular in Jean Scot Commentaire sur l'évangile de Jean, Paris 1972, p. 291 n. 9, p. 345 n. 4 and elsewhere.

27. ———. 1998. The Structure of Being and the Search for the Good: Essays on Ancient and Early Medieval Platonism. Aldershot: Ashgate Variorum.

    Essays on Eriugena: XX. L'Investigation et les investigateurs dans le De divisione naturae de Jean Scot Erigene; XXI. The Concept of Natura in John Scottus Eriugena (De divisione naturae Book I); XXII. The Problem of Speaking about God in John Scottus Eriugena; XXIII. The Metaphysical Use of Mathematical Concepts in Eriugena; XXIV. Eriugena and Aquinas on the Beatific Vision.

28. O'Meara, John Joseph. 1977. "Eriugena's Use of Augustine in his Teaching of the Return of the Soul and the Vision of God." In Jean Scot Erigène et l'histoire de la philosophie, edited by Roques, René, 191-200. Paris: Éditions du Centre national de la recherche scientifique.

29. ———. 1980. ""Magnorum Virorum Quendam Consensum Velimus Machinari' (804 B): Eriugena's Use of Augustine's De Genesi ad litteram in the Periphyseon." In Eriugena. Studien zu seinen Quellen, edited by Beierwaltes, Werner, 105-116. Heidelberg: Carl Winter.

30. ———. 1983. "The Problem of Speaking about God in John Scottus Eriugena." In Carolingian Essays. Andrew W. Mellon Lectures in Early Christian Studies, edited by Blumenthal, Ute-Renate, 151-167. Washington: Catholic University of America Press.

    Reprinted in: D. O'Meara, The Structure of Being and the Search for the Good. Essays on Ancient and Early Medieval Platonism, Aldershot: Ashgate, 1998, Essay XXII.

31. ———. 1986. "Translating Eriugena." In Jean Scot écrivain, edited by Allard, Guy-H., 115-128. Paris: Vrin.

    "The use of Uhlfelder’s serviceable, but incomplete translation of Eriugena’s Periphyseon in the foregoing analysis was intended merely to help in measuring the value of Sheldon-Williams’ rendering. Sheldon-Williams reminds one of Stephen MacKenna, who, although he had, unlike Sheldon-Williams, no professional qualification in Greek or Latin, having discovered Plotinus devoted himself to his translation as a fidus Achates for evermore. Sheldon-Williams had a real passion for the kind of ideas found in Eriugena and in Greek theology. Joined to this he had a strong sense of rhetoric and of an ample balanced style. He rather liked ideas that were complex and, it seemed at times, because they were complex. Altogether, work on the text and translation of the Periphyseon was congenial to him and on it he spent a good deal of his life. He reminds one not only of Stephen MacKenna but also of another famous translator, Scott-Moncrieff, of another famous author, Proust. Scott-Moncrieff, as you will know, was engaged in translating A la recherche du temps perdu while Proust was still finishing it. His translation began to be so well known and admired that Proust became jealous of him. I do not wish to suggest that Sheldon-Williams’ translation of the Periphyseon is of the same class as MacKenna’s of Plotinus or Scott-Moncrieff s of Proust; but he has a similar affinity with his author and his opus magnum. This gives his translation a feeling which is hard to describe but is for all that perceptible. In the Foreword and Acknowledgements to the first volume of his edition of the Periphyseon Sheldon-Williams, despite my requesting him not to do so, thanks me for, among other things, “important criticisms which have improved the translation.” I could still find much to criticize in his translation — what translation is perfect ? —, but my judgment for what it is worth is that we now have in Sheldon-Williams’ rendering not only a workable English translation of the Periphyseon, but one of welcome affinity with the original." (p. 128).

32. ———. 1987. "Eriugena's Immediate Influence." In Eriugena Redivivus. Zur Wirkungeschichte seines Denkens im Mittelalter und im Übergang zur Neuzeit, edited by Beierwaltes, Werner, 13-25. Heidelberg: Carl Winter.

33. ———. 1987. "Eriugena and Aquinas on the Beatific Vision." In Eriugena Redivivus. Zur Wirkungeschichte seines Denkens im Mittelalter und im Übergang zur Neuzeit, edited by Beierwaltes, Werner, 224-236. Heidelberg: Carl Winter.

    Reprinted in: D. O'Meara, The Structure of Being and the Search for the Good. Essays on Ancient and Early Medieval Platonism, Aldershot: Ashgate, 1998, Essay XXIV.

34. ———. 1988. Eriugena. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

35. ———. 1992. "Contrasting Approaches to Neoplatonic Immaterialism: Augustine and Eriugena." In From Athens to Chartres. Neoplatonism and Medieval Thought. Studies in Honour of Edouard Jeauneau, edited by Westra, Haijo Jan, 175-180. Leiden: Brill.

    "In an earlier paper,(1) I drew a contrast between Augustine and Eriugena in their fundamentally different approaches to the interpretation of an important text from Genesis: et diuisit Deus lucem a tenebris (1.4): “For Augustine this signifies, Eriugena says, either the difference between the perfection of form on the one hand and the confusion of ‘informity’ on the other; or the separation of the faithful from the fallen angels. Eriugena here interprets Augustine as understanding that the ‘reasons’ or causes of things are eternal in God and in being created, from being light, become darkness. Eriugena for himself, however, takes so to speak, a diametrically opposite view of the matter. For him following, he says, Dionysius, darkness signifies the incomprehensibility of the eternal reasons in God as well as God himself; and light signifies the declaratio, manifestation or ‘theophany’ of these reasons in the effects that we see. This difference between Eriugena and Augustine, signalled by Eriugena himself, is, as I have said, fundamental . . . .” There is a profound and perhaps revealing difference between looking at darkness as a symbol of something transcendingly superior to light (Eriugena’s approach) and on the other hand greatly inferior to it (Augustine’s).

    This kind of fundamental difference of approach is, I venture to suggest, also to be discerned in Eriugena’s handling of the question of predestination. His overriding view of the problem is, again, God-orientated—there can be no predestination: God’s simplicity precludes it. But he does address himself to Augustine’s opinions, and strains argument to discover a few texts in which Augustine appears to teach that there is only one predestination, to salvation, and to interpret the de facto overwhelming number of Augustine’s declarations on the subject (to the effect that there was predestination to salvation and damnation) through the employment of the figure of speech known as antiphrasis or e contrario: Augustine, he suggests rather desperately, actually means the opposite of what he says.

    Repeatedly Eriugena gives this kind of unsatisfying explanation for texts of Augustine that he considers unworthy of his “Father”. A singular and important instance of this Eriugenian difficulty arises, as we shall see presently, with the question of Augustine’s teaching on the resurrection of bodies. This is a test-case of the real allegiance of each of them to purer Neoplatonic doctrine, and one possible reason for the actual general rejection of Eriugena in the West, where Augustine’s view has prevailed." (p. 169)

    (1) “Magnorum Virorum Quendam Consensum Velimus Machinari”, Eriugena: Studien zu seinen Quellen, ed. W. Beierwaltes (Heidelberg, 1980) 107.

36. ———. 2011. Studies in Augustine and Eriugena.

    Edited by Thomas Halton.

    Section IV. Augustine and Eriugena. 17. Augustine's Understanding of the Creation and Fall 233; 18. Eriugena's Use of Augustine in His Teaching on the Return of the Soul and the Vision of God 244; 19. Eriugena's Use of Augustine in His Teaching on the Soul-Body Relationship 255; 20. Eriugena's Use of Augustine's De Genesi ad litteram in the Periphyseon 269-285.

37. Otten, Willemien. 1973. "The Role of Man in the Eriugenian Universe: Dependance or Autonomy." In Giovanni Scoto nel suo tempo. L'organizzazione del sapere in età carolingia, edited by Leonardi, Claudio, 595-609. Spoleto: Centro italiano di studi sull'alto medioevo.

38. ———. 1977. "The Influence of Eriugenian Thought: Report on the International Eriugena Colloquium, Bad Homburg, 26-30 August 1985." Studi Medievali no. 18:461-473.

    Brief summaries of the papers presented at the colloquium.

39. ———. 1990. "The Universe of Nature and the Universe of Man: Difference and Identity." In Begriff und Metapher. Sprachform des denkens bei Eriugena, edited by Beierwaltes, Werner, 202-212. Heidelberg: Carl Winter.

    "In view of this volume’s theme, i.e. metaphor and philosophy in Eriugena, I would like to concentrate on the connection of these notions with each other. Through an analysis of the figure of man, whose significant role in the Periphyseon seems open to several interpretations, I want to show in this paper that in Eriugena metaphorical imagery and philosophical arguments are in fact closely interrelated. Thus, by focusing on one single figure in the context of one specific work, we can perhaps get a better impression of what may be considered the general atmosphere of Eriugena’s thinking: subtlety of reasoning corresponding with an unusual flexibility of language.

    In the Periphyseon the role of man is important, but unfortunately it is not very well-defined. There is only one of the work’s five books which gives an explicit treatment of man, viz. Book IV(1).

    (...)

    1 will therefore try to evoke a portrait of Eriugenian man in which this dual aspect will be given sufficient attention without, however, leading to a fragmented picture. It is my view that even the most scattered elements of Eriugena’s speculations about man still leave openings towards a more integral approach of the matter. The unique philosophical set-up of the work is ultimately responsible for this." (pp. 202-203)

    (...)

    "What then does this study of Eriugena's allegorical exegesis, notably Eriugena’s rational interpretation of it, imply for the interpretation of Eriugenian man? I think that once we have abandoned the static subject-object structure as a suitable model for analyzing Eriugena’s figure of man, it may help us see how much room Eriugeha actually leaves for man to play his own role within the vast universe of which he continues to form an integrated part. The observation of Eriugena’s handling of allegorical exegesis can help us qualify this role as a creative rational one. Though dependent of nature -man reflects nature’s development of processio and reditus - man appears also to be responsible for its execution. The dominance of the theme of the return of all things to God, which permeates the entire description of the Periphyseon's natura, as the collec-tio is implied in the divisio, is equally present in man as in the whole of nature. However. there is one difference, which gives man a slight lead over any other being in the Periphyseon. Whereas the universe of man longs for the realization of the return in the same manner as the whole of the universe, including God, it is still man whose rational nature must guarantee its success. Eriugena’s allegorization of paradise with its gradual but definite elimination of the damaging effects of sin can show us how far Eriugena is actually prepared to go to reach his goal." (P. 212)

    (1) The text of P IV can be found in PL 122,741C-860D. The text of Books 1 to 3 is quoted from the Sheldon-Williams edition.

40. ———. 1990. "The Interplay of Nature and Man in the Periphyseon." Vivarium no. 28:1-16.

41. ———. 1991. The Anthropology of Johannes Scottus Eriugena. Leiden: Brill.

    Contents: Preface VII; Introduction 1; 1. Division, definition and return. An inquiry into the Prologue of the Periphyseon 7; 2. Creation and God. An explanation of major themes in Eriugena's thinking 40; 3. From physiology to anthropology 82; 4. The universe of man. Its procession and return 118; 5. Back to God. The final reditus of man and nature 190; Latin Appendix 221; References 233; Index 239-242.

    "... I have taken my starting-point in the Periphyseon's unbroken literary structure, thereby trying to give an analysis of the author’s overall ideas. In doing so, I have been led to choose one central theme, namely the study of Eriugena’s anthropology, (3) the scope of which I will I here try briefly to define.

    The analysis of Eriugena’s Periphyseon is by nature a historical enterprise. As such it has resulted first of all in an assessment of the early-medieval Christian context of Eriugena’s views. Man in this early-medieval world was seen primarily as possessing a created, sinful state, and it is from this viewpoint that I have analyzed Eriugena’s ideas. However, defining my purpose simply as the study of Eriugena’s anthropology might suggest the analysis of man only in so far as he emerges as the clear object of the Periphyseon's text. However important man as a direct topic of discussion may be, it is not this aspect that has warranted my attention for so long. Rather, during the course of this study I have developed the view that in the Periphyseon there is a more veiled presence of man, influencing the whole text. I have tried to trace the origins of this view of man. Without assuming any judgement on the part of my readers, I want to make it clear that, for me, the position of man as the leading character in the vast universe Eriugena evokes was only gradually revealed. It resulted in a complete change in my initial perspective of the Periphyseon as a treatise of primarily metaphysical importance. For it put a definite stop to any distinction between man as the object and man as the subject of Eriugena’s thought, making him instead the overall centre of the Periphyseon's universe. With this unifying view of man as the central character in the Periphyseon's literary structure, I think we can legitimately regard the work as a coherent exposition of ideas.

    Though one should always be careful about the impact of one’s descriptions, I think regarding the Periphyseon from an anthropological viewpoint may have some effect in counterbalancing attempts which have explained the Periphyseon too readily either as a modern, idealistic system comparable to a Heideggerian model for example,(4) or as a statically layered, Neoplatonic universe of Proclean design.(5) One should read and interpret my comparison between Eriugena’s confidence in man as he is positioned in an outstretched universe of divine origin, and the far more modern notion of Descartes’ self-awareness of the thinking subject along these same lines." (pp. 1-2)

    (3) I have used the term ‘anthropology’ generally to indicate Eriugena’s view of man within the context of his written works. Although throughout this study it will gradually be made manifest what I mean by this term, I want to make it clear from the very beginning that, unlike in earlier literature, I do not want to interpret ‘anthropology’ as psychology, as appears to be the case in Karpp 1950 [Heinrich Karpp, Probleme altchristlicher Anthropologie. Biblische und philosophische Psychologie bei den Kirchenvätern des dritten Jahrhunderts, Gütersloh]; Mathon 1964 [Gérard Mathon, L'Anthropologie chrétienne en Occident de Saint Augustin à Joan Scot Erigène : recherches sur le sort des thèses de l'anthropologie augustinienne durant le Haut Moyen Age, Lille]

    (4) In his outlook on Eriugena’s philosophy, Moran seems to be particularly interested in the relevance of his thought for modern, idealist philosophy, see Moran 1989: xii-xiv, 102, 184-185, 283-284.

    (5) Cappuyns quotes Hauréau’s statement about Eriugena as “un autre Proclus a peine chrétien”, see Cappuyns 1933: 264. Hauréau’s judgement can be seen as representative for much of the nineteenth and early twentieth century scholarship on Eriugena.

42. ———. 1991. "The Dialectic of the Return in Eriugena's Periphyseon." Harvard Theological Review no. 84:399-421.

43. ———. 1992. "Between Damnation and Restoration. The Dynamics of Human Nature in Eriugens's Perphyseon and Alan of Lille's Anticlaudianus." In From Athens to Chartres. Neoplatonism and Medieval Thought. Studies in Honour of Edouard Jeauneau, edited by Westra, Haijo Jan, 329-350. Leiden: Brill.

    "Introduction: Anthropology From a Theological Perspective

    Approaching the learned literature of the pre-scholastic Middle Ages from a twentieth century viewpoint, one can make remarkable discoveries if willing to cross familiar boundaries. In this article I want to stress the continuity of the early-medieval intellectual tradition, that is to say until the twelfth century, by examining two important works. They were written by John Scottus Eriugena and Alan of Lille in the ninth and twelfth centuries respectively. While the historical connection between Eriugena and Alan may be a matter of scholarly debate, the general affinity between their ideas makes it definitely worthwile to undertake a comparison. The Platonic orientation of both authors accounts for some striking parallels, and offers us a penetrating insight into a strong intellectual undercurrent of the prescholastic Middle Ages." (P. 329)

    (1) For a discussion of Eriugenian influence in the twelfth century, see P. Lucentini, Platonismo medievale. Contributi per la storia dell' eriugenismo (Florence, 1980). For Alan’s possible knowledge of Eriugenian metaphysics, one should think of Bernard Silvestris’ Cosmographia as an indirect link of transmission. On Bernard and Eriugena, see P. Lucentini, op. cit., 53, n. 150. P. Dronke has traced Eriugenian influence in Alan on the point of reason versus authority, see P. Dronke (ed.), A History of Twelfth-Century Western Philosophy (Cambridge, 1988) Introduction, 8, n. 13.

    (2) For a general overview of the Platonisms of the twelfth century, and the role of Eriugena in them, see M.D. Chenu, Nature, Man and Society in the Twelfth Century. Essays on New Theological Perspectives in the Latin West, transl. and ed. by J. Taylor and L.K. Little (Chicago, 1968/repr. 1983) 49-98. See also W. Wetherbee, “Philosophy, Cosmology and the Renaissance”, in P. Dronke (ed.), A History of Twelfth-Century Western Philosophy, 21-53. In accordance with Chenu’s views, Wetherbee mentions Eriugena’s translations of Pseudo-Dionysius and his Periphyseon as the two main sources of the mystical, hierarchical Platonism, which coexisted with the ‘scientific’ Platonism of the early twelfth century (29). He also points out that Platonist cosmological thought increasingly influenced the production of imaginative literature. Alan and Bernard Silvestris occupy an important position in this movement of creative, allegorical poetry (43-53). See also n. 44 below.

    (44) For the importance of integumentum in the rise of imaginative literature in the twelfth century, see W. Wetherbee, “Philosophy, Cosmology and the Renaissance”, in P. Dronke, A History of Twelfth-Century Western Philosophy, 43-53. In his article Wetherbee points to three examples of this imaginative literature, namely Bernard Silvestris, John of Salisbury and Alan of Lille.

44. ———. 1993. "Eriugena's 'Periphyseon' and the Concept of Eastern versus Western Patristic Influence." In Studia Patristica. Vol. 28: XV. Nachleben of the Fathers, edited by Livingstone, Elizabeth A., 217-224. Leuven: Peeters Press.

45. ———. 1994. "Eriugena's Periphyseon: A Carolingian Contribution to the Theological Tradition." In Eriugena East and West, edited by McGinn, Bernard and Otten, Willemien, 69-94. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press.

46. ———. 1999. "In the Shadow of the Divine: Negative Theology and Negative Anthropology in Augustine, Pseudo-Dionysius and Eriugena." Heytrop Journal no. 40.

    "To analyze the tradition of negative theology, the article goes back to its prime architect, Pseudo-Dionysius. By comparing him to an author who preceded him, viz. Augustine, and one who followed him, viz. Eriugena, the article aims at giving a 'thicker' description of his position by framing it historically. In doing so it draws two conclusions. It first shows that the connection between negative theology and negative anthropology is indeed Dionysian; as such it is rightfully pointed to in postmodern thought. In contradistinction to postmodern applications, however, Dionysius' interest in negativity is shown to reflect before all a desire to wrestle with the overpowering presence of the divine instead of concluding to its absence.".

47. ———. 2002. "Realized Eschatology of Philosophical Idealism: The Case of Eriugena's Periphyseon." In Ende Und Vollendung. Eschatologische Perspektiven Im Mittelalter, edited by Aertsen, Jan A. and Pickavé, Martin, 373-387. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.

48. ———. 2006. "Anthropology between Imago Mundi and Imago Dei: the Place of Johannes Scottus Eriugena in the Tradition of Christian Thought." In Studia Patristica.Vol.43: Augustine, other Latin Writers, edited by Young, Frances, Edwards, Michael and Parvis, Paul M., 459-472. Leuven: Peeters.

49. ———. 2016. "Eriugena on Natures (Created, Human and Divine): from Christian-Platonic Metaphysics to Early-Medieval Protreptic." In Philosophie et théologie chez Jean Scot Érigène, edited by Moulin, Isabelle, 113-133. Paris: Vrin.

50. ———. 2020. Thinking Nature and the Nature of Thinking: From Eriugena to Emerson. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

51. Paparella, Francesco. 2009. Le teorie neoplatoniche del simbolo. Il caso di Giovanni Eriugena. Milano: Vita e Pensiero.

52. Perger, Mischa von. 2005. "Eriugenas Adaption der aristotelischen Kategorienlehre." In Logik und Theologie. Das Organon im Arabischen und im Lateinischen Mittelalter, edited by Perler, Dominik and Rudolph, Ulrich, 239-304. Leiden: Brill.

53. Petroff, Valery V. 1998. "The De Templo of Bede as the Source of and Ideal Temple Description in Eriugena's Aulae Sidereae." Recherches de théologie et philosophie médiévales no. 65:97-106.

54. ———. 2002. "Theoriae of the Return in John Scottus' Escahtology." In History and Eschatology in John Scottus Eriugena and His Time, edited by McEvoy, James and Dunne, Michael, 527-580. Leuven: Leuven University Press.

55. Piemonte, Gustavo. 1968. "Notas sobre la creatio de nihilo en Juan Escoto Eriúgena." Sapientia no. 23:37-58.

    "In this preliminary study the author, after briefly surveying the contradictory conclusions of scholars on the paradoxes inherent in Eriugena's writings, proceeds in two sections to address the problem of creation de nihilo as it occurs in Eriugena and in some other writers.

    I. A large section of De divisione naturae III, chapters 5-23 is the subject of analysis. The problem is nihil by privation or alternatively by superexcellence. The Bible and the Fathers offer a solution through faith; reason offers an alternative. As the argument unfolds the author points out the sources of the responses of both master and pupil. The dialogue form admits of a discussion of controversial views, Eriugena expressing doubt through the words of the discipulus, a device which may have been responsible over the centuries for the imputation to him of various heresies. The antithesis of aeterna/facta is an overriding problem. In that context the author surveys the stages and extension of creation de nihilo. " (Brennan, pp. 211-212)

    References

    Gershom Scholem, 'Jüdische Mystik in West-Europa im 12. und 13. Jahrhundert', Miscellanea Mediaevalia 4. Judentum im Mittelalter. Berlin 1966, 37-54 reprinted in Scholem, Iudaica III, Studien zur jüdischen Mystik, Suhrkamp Verlag 1973. (also 'Il misticismo ebraico medievale', De homine, Centro di Ricerca per le Scienze Morali e Sociali, lstituto di Filosofia della Università di Roma 21 [Marzo 1967], 1-22).

56. ———. 1968. " Notas sobre la "creatio de nihilo" en Juan Escoto Eriúgena. II: Juan Escoto y la tradición gnostica en el judaísmo." Sapientia no. 23:115-132.

    "II. This section is entitled 'John the Scot and the gnostic tradition in Judaism'. Common sources can be discerned in the work of Eriugena and that of Hebrew mystics of the later middle ages ( cf. Scholem, 481 below) e.g. in Provence and in Spain (as can neoplatonist influence in Shiite Islam of that period). This point is sustained by specific quotations and specific parallels from cabbalistic writers, who may indeed even have read Eriugena's text. It has to be remembered also that early christian writing owed much to earlier Jewish writing." (Brennan, pp. 211-212).

57. ———. 1986. "L'expression "quae sunt et quae non sunt": Jean Scot et Marius Victorinus." In Jean Scot écrivain, edited by Allard, Guy-H., 81-113. Paris: Vrin.

    "L'expression double «quae sunt et quae non sunt», dont les membres antithétiques veulent embrasser la totalité du réel, revient souvent, comme on sait, dans les écrits de Jean Scot. Elle est présente, tout d'abord, dans le Periphyseon, et dès ses premières pages, consacrées à l'explication bien connue des manières d'entendre la distinction entre les «choses qui sont» et les «choses qui ne sont pas». Mais elle paraît aussi dans les autres ouvrages érigéniens ; on la trouve déjà — avec une signification qui ne coïncide qu'en partie avec celle que lui donneront les textes postérieurs — dans le De divina praedestinatione; on la rencontre également dans les Expositiones in ierarchiam coelestem et dans le Commentaire sur l'évangile de Jean, et même dans des pièces d'un genre littéraire très différent, moins techniques et destinées à un public plus large, comme l'Homélie sur le prologue de ce même évangile, ou les poèmes. C'est justement la première occurrence de cette expression dans la Vox spiritualis, au chapitre I, lignes 6 et 8-12, avec les problèmes textuels qu'elle a soulevés, qui m'a amené à l'étudier dans l'ensemble de l'oeuvre de Jean Scot, et à me poser la question des origines possibles d'une locution si typiquement érigénienne. Elle n'était probablement pas courante au temps de notre auteur, puisqu'il se donne plusieurs fois la peine de l'expliquer à ses lecteurs. Où Jean Scot avait-il trouvé l'inspiration pour cette formule d'apparence paradoxale, qui occupait souvent ses méditations et sur laquelle il exerçait toutes les forces de son intelligence («saepe mihi cogitanti diligentiusque quantum uires suppetunt inquirenti... ») ? Chez Denys et Maxime le Confesseur, oui, sans doute; l'Érigène le dit lui-même (4), et d'ailleurs il n'est pas difficile de retrouver, derrière les mots latins, les vocables grecs respectifs (tà ônta, tà me ônta) ; il s'agit bien d'un cas de traduction, et cela n'a rien d'extraordinaire. Mais on peut toujours se demander si notre auteur n'aurait pas suivi consciemment l'exemple de quelque prédécesseur dans son adaptation au latin de ces éléments de la terminologie philosophique grecque. Après avoir fait quelques recherches personnelles, je crois que l'opinion qu'expriment à cet égard, un peu en passant, certains historiens est juste, et que la réponse à la question posée doit être affirmative. Il me semble par ailleurs que l'influence du prédécesseur en question — je parle de Marius Victorinus — n'est pas limitée à ce seul point : elle s'étend aussi à d'autres thèmes, et la façon dont l'Érigène l'a assimilée pourrait nous dire quelque chose sur ses procédés de composition littéraire et en même temps éclaircir certains aspects de sa pensée." (pp. 81-83)

    (...)

    "Au terme de notre comparaison entre différents passages de Jean Scot et de Marius Victorinus, nous sommes donc en mesure d’affirmer que l’auteur irlandais a très probablement emprunté à ce difficile penseur chrétien du IVe siècle non seulement certaines idées qu’il a intégrées dans sa synthèse personnelle, mais encore des formules, des phrases où ces idées sont exprimées, c’est-à-dire des matériaux littéraires. C’était justement ce que Victorinus lui-même avait fait à l’égard de Porphyre et d’autres philosophes grecs, d’après P. Hadot, qui note que ce mode de composition est d’ailleurs commun à tous les écrivains latins de l’Antiquité finissante: «Tous utilisent pour ainsi dire des éléments préfabriqués.(93) (94) »" (p. 108)

    (1) Cf. De praed., Praef., 60-65 ; 3, 88-90; 10,45-51, 139-143; 11, 21-24; Epil., 39-42. Expos., IV, 78-79; VII, 413-414. Comm. Jn., 304D (I, XXVII, 94-95); 327D (III, XI, 7), Hom., I, 6 et 8-12; VIII, 12-14. Carmina, éd. L. Traube (MGH, Poet. lat., III, Berlin, 1896), Pars. Il, II, 7-8 ; VIII, 15 (cf. aussi ibid., 29) ; voir également Pars. VIII, III, 20 (Préface de la Versio Maximi), «ON quod, quod non ON, denegat omne sitnul» (sur l’emploi du terme grec cf. ci-dessous III, b), 1), avec note 81).

    (2) Sur l’ordre des lignes 10-12 du chap. I de VHom., cf. Comm. Jn., I, XXXII, n. 15, p. 187-188; JSEHP, p. 252.

    (3) Periph., I, 441A (p. 36, 3-6).

    (4) Cf. Hom., p. 204, n. 1.

    (5) Cf. ci-dessous, note 38.

    (93) Periph., III, 634B-C (p. 60, 24-26 et 31-34).

    (94) P. Hadot, PV, [Porphyre et Victorinus, Paris: Institut d'études augustiniennes, 1968] p. 33 (voir l’ensemble des remarques de l’auteur sur la nécessité et les limites de la Quellenforschung, p. 31-39).

58. ———. 1986. ""Vita in omnia pervenit". El vitalismo eriugeniano y la influencia de Mario Victorino." Patristica et Mediaevalia no. 7:3-48.

59. ———. 1987. "Les Expositiones in ierarchiam coelestem de Jean Scot et un opuscule hébreu pseudépigraphique du XIIIe siècle." In Eriugena redivivus. Zur Wirkungsgeschichte seines Denkens im Mittelalter und im übergang zur Neuzeit, edited by Beierwaltes, Werner, 279-310. Heidelberg: Carl Winter.

60. ———. 1990. "Image et contenu intelligible dans la conception érigénienne de la 'diffusio dei'." In Begriff und Metapher. Sprachform des Denkens bei Eriugena, edited by Beierwaltes, Werner, 80-94. Heidelberg: Carl Winter.

61. ———. 1992. "'Ioannes Scotus vel Chrysostomus'. Acerca de la atribución de obras eriugenianas a Juan Crisóstomo." Stylos no. 1:37-58.

62. ———. 1996. "Recherches sur les "Tractatus in Matheum" attribués à Jean Scot." In Iohannes Scottus Eriugena. The Bible and Hermeneutics, edited by Riel, Gerd van, Steel, Carlos and McEvoy, James. Leuven: Leuven University Press.

63. ———. 2002. "Some Distinctive Theses of Eriugena's Eschatology in his Exegesis of the Gospel according to St. Matthew." In History and Eschatology in John Scottus Eriugena and His Time, edited by McEvoy, James and Dunne, Michael, 227-242. Leuven: Leuven University Press.

64. Pinzani, Roberto. 2012. "Alle origini del realismo. Appunti sull’ontologia di Scoto Eriugena." Documenti e Studi sulla Tradizione Filosofica Medievale no. 23:107-142.

    Abstract: "I would like to discuss in this article some issues concerning Scotus Eriugena’s ontology. I will focus on the De Divisione naturae and, in particular, on the concepts of ‘nature’, ‘essence/substance’, ‘matter’, ‘form’, ‘species’ and ‘genus’. I will also pay attention to the way in which Scotus deals with some traditional logic themes, like that of individuation and universals. The underlying assumption is that (realist) philosophers of the ‘twelfth Century renaissance’ take into some consideration elements of Scotus’ ontology when discussing the problem of universals.

    I tried to read Scotus language in a ‘neutral’ way, by translating it literally, disregarding historical metaphysical interpretations (which are considered anyway in the footnotes), and by rendering metaphors and literary texts in a comprehensible way, as far as possible.".

65. Préaux, Jean. 1977. "Jean Scot et Martin de Laon en face du De nuptiis de Martianus Capella." In Jean Scot Erigène et l'histoire de la philosophie, edited by Roques, René, 161-170. Paris: Éditions du Centre national de la recherche scientifique.

66. Puxley, David. 2006. "The Role of the Human in the Procession and Return of the Cosmos from Plotinus to Eriugena." Dionysius no. 24:175-208.

    "The first two parts of this study examine the formulations of Plotinus and Porphyry (Part 1) and of Iamblichus and Proclus (Part 2) with respect to the median and mediating nature of the human self in terms of its capacity for anagogé and énosis. Part 3 examines the early reception and transformation of the Iamblicho-Procline formulation. In Part 4 we see that in the «Periphyseon» of Eriugena an early and profound synthesis is to be found, with the result that in Eriugena the human soul or self is the agent of creation and thus central to the «exitus» and «reditus» of the cosmos.".

67. Ramelli, Ilaria. 2012. "Eriugena's Commentary on Martianus in the Framework of his Thought and the Philosophical Debate of his Time." In Carolingian Scholarship and Martianus Capella. Ninth-century Commentary Traditions on 'De nuptiis' in Context, edited by O'Sullivan, Sinead and Teeuwen, Mariken, 245-272. Turnhout: Brepols.

    Abstract: "It is well known that the Carolingian royal family inspired and promoted a cultural revival of great consequence. The courts of Charlemagne and his successors welcomed lively gatherings of scholars who avidly pursued knowledge and learning, while education became a booming business in the great monastic centres, which were under the protection of the royal family. Scholarly emphasis was placed upon Latin language, religion, and liturgy, but the works of classical and late antique authors were collected, studied, and commented upon with similar zeal. A text that was read by ninth-century scholars with an almost unrivalled enthusiasm is Martianus Capella’s De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii, a late antique encyclopedia of the seven liberal arts embedded within a mythological framework of the marriage between Philology (learning) and Mercury (eloquence). Several ninth-century commentary traditions testify to the work’s popularity in the ninth century. Martianus’s text treats a wide range of secular subjects, including mythology, the movement of the heavens, numerical speculation, and the ancient tradition on each of the seven liberal arts. De nuptiis and its exceptionally rich commentary traditions provide the focus of this volume, which addresses both the textual material found in the margins of De nuptiis manuscripts, and the broader intellectual context of commentary traditions on ancient secular texts in the early medieval world.".

68. ———. 2013. The Christian Doctrine of Apokatastasis: A Critical Assessment from the New Testament to Eriugena. Leiden: Brill.

    On Eriugena see in particular: Shift to the West but on Geek Patristic Grounds: John the Scot Eriugena and Apokatastasis as Reditus, pp. 773-815.

69. ———, ed. 2021. Studia Patristica Vol. CXXII: Vol. 19: Eriugena's Christian Neoplatonism and its sources in Patristic and Ancient Philosophy. Leuven: Peeters.

70. Rand, Edward Kennard. 1920. "The Supposed Autographa of John the Scot." University of California Publications in Classical Philology no. 5:135-141.

71. ———. 1934. "The supposed Commentary of John the Scot on the « Opuscula Sacra » of Boethius." Revue néoscolastique de philosophie no. 36:67-77.

72. ———. 1940. "How Much of the Annotationes in Marcianum is the Work of John the Scot?" Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association no. 71:501-523.

73. Roques, René. 1973. "Traduction ou interprétation? Brèves remarques sur Jean Scot traducteur de Denis." In The Mind of Eriugena, edited by O'Meara, John Joseph and Bieler, Ludwig, 59-75. Dublin: Irish University Press.

74. ———. 1975. Libres sentiers vers l'érigénisme. Roma: Edizioni dell'Ateneo.

75. Rorem, Paul. 2005. Eriugena’s Commentary on the Dionysian Celestial Hierarchy. Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies.

76. ———. 2008. "The Early Latin Dyonisius: Eriugena and Hugh of St. Victor." Modern Theology no. 24:601-614.

    "This essay sketches how Eriugena and Hugh of St. Victor interpreted the Areopagite, emphasizing key passages for each. Eriugena's translation of the Corpus Dyonisianum and his Expositiones on The Celestial Hierarchy exerted a tremendous influence on subsequent Latin readers, including Hugh, and even survived the condemnation of his masterwork, the Periphyseon. The Victorine, whose own Augustinian inclinations were largely untouched by his encounter with the Areopagite, nevertheless exerted a distinctive influence by (falsely) attributing to Dionysius the view that in our pursuit of God, "love surpasses knowledge." Together, despite their stark differences, they bequeathed a lively Dionysian tradition to the high medieval authors, scholastics and mystics alike.".

77. Rorem.Paul. 2003. "Christ as Cornerstone, Worm, and Phoenix in Eriugena’s Commentary on Dionysius." Dionysius no. 21:183-196.

78. Rosemann, Philipp W. 1996. Omne agens agit sibi simile. A "Repetition" of Scholastic Metaphysics. Leuven: Leuven University Press.

    "Chapter IV, "Eriugena -- Causality as Concealing Revelation" follows the great Irish philosopher in his reflections upon causality as a manifestation of the cause in and through its effect, a manifestation, however, which by its very nature cannot but conceal the cause at the same time as it discloses it. For the Christian thinker that is Eriugena, the Trinity constitutes the paradigm of this "concealing revelation". God, who is beyond being and, therefore, strictly speaking "no-thing", enters the domain of being -- "creates himself", as Eriugena puts it in daring terms -- in and through the Trinity, and then, derivatively, through the natural world. We can know God -- and, indeed, God can only come to "know" himself -- only through his effects; yet as in these effects God "alienates" himself from his "true" nature, which is "nothing", creation is as much an obstacle as an aid in our quest for God. Moreover, this ambiguity is not only a theoretical one, having as it does repercussions upon the moral quality of creation, which, as "revelation", serves as a signpost on the road to God, while as "concealment" it presents dangerous temptations, and the occasion of sin." (p. 27).

79. Rudnick, Ulrich. 1990. Das System des Johannes Scottus Eriugena. Eine theologisch-philosophische Studie zu seinem Werk. Bern: Peter Lang.

    Aus dem Inhalt: Schöpfungs- und Trinitätslehre - Christologie und Soteriologie - Der Prozeß der Selbstverwirklichung Gottes und die Notwendigkeit der Schöpfung - Die eschatologische Dimension des Bösen - Das irisch-keltische Erbe.

80. Russell, Robert. 1973. "Some Augustinian Influences in Eriugena's De diuisione naturae." In The Mind of Eriugena, edited by O'Meara, John Joseph and Bieler, Ludwig, 31-40. Dublin: Irish University Press.

    "In assessing the Latin sources in Eriugena, it goes without saying that St Augustine holds the first place.

    In the first of his more original works, the De praedestinatione, composed in 851, and before his contact with the Corpus Dionysianum, the Bishop of Hippo is quoted no fewer than sixty times. Just how Eriugena made use of Augustine’s works on free will, grace, and predestination in that work has been shown by Professor Gérard Mathon in a Communication delivered during the Semaine Augustinienne in Paris in 1954, entitled ‘Utilisation des textes de saint Augustin par Jean Scot Érigène dans son De praedestinatione’.(2)

    It must be acknowledged, however, that, despite its obvious importance, no definitive work has yet appeared on the overall influence exerted by the writings of the African bishop.

    (...)

    The present paper is offered as a modest attempt to supply in part for this notable lacuna in Eriugenian scholarship. I have chosen to restrict this inquiry to an examination of the De divisione naturae for several reasons. First, because of a limitation of time imposed by our programme; secondly, because the work itself is not only the most original of Eriugena’s writings but also the one which reflects the full maturity of its author. (...)

    Thirdly, since it was composed after the author’s contact with the Corpus Dionysianum, it is possible to compare and evaluate Augustine’s role in the formation of Eriugena’s definitive teaching with this and other Greek sources. If one restricts this role to scriptural exegesis, the author of the De divisione naturae expressly states his preference for Gregory of Nyssa and Augustine as preeminent after Apostolic times: ‘. . . post sanctos Apostolos nullum apud Graecos fuisse in expositionibus divinae Scripturae maioris auctoritatis Gregorio theologo, nullum apud Romanos Aurelio Augustino’.(6) Again, in the field of theology, Augustine is ‘sanctissimus divinusque theologus’.(7) Of learning in general, he is ‘magnus divinarum humana-rumque rerum et solertissimus inquisitor et copiosissimus expositor’.(8) Finally, Augustine is quoted over forty times in this same work." (pp. 31-32)

    (...)

    "A fuller treatment of Augustinian influences on Eriugena’s De divisione naturae would have had to include, in addition to those already indicated, certain aspects of the doctrine of creation, such as materia informis and the rationes seminales; also, the problem of evil, and perhaps, where Augustine’s influence is strongest of all, Eriugena’s presentation of Trinitarian theology.

    In conclusion, it need hardly be noted that Eriugena’s great respect for Augustine did not prevent him from departing consciously from his authority, a position fully justified by Eriugena’s conviction of the natural superiority of reason over all human authority. Gilson describes his attitude this way: ‘When a man speaks, even if his authority is universally recognized by other men, what he says is true only if reason approves of it.’(54) In a number of instances Eriugena rejects Augustine in favour of Greek authorities on such basic issues as authentic human nature, the constitution of corporeal reality, the status of original paradise, sexual differentiation, the nature of the glorified body, and many aspects of eschatology. In the final analysis, Eriugena’s importance and greatness do not lie in the fact that he compiled a Liber Sententiarum, but rather that he achieved a new and powerful philosophic-theological synthesis in an age which made such a feat all the more remarkable. The present Colloquium then is not only a fitting tribute to the memory of Eriugena but, hopefully, the beginning of a new era which will witness a richly productive renaissance of Eriugenian studies." (pp. 38-39)

    (2) Augustinus Magister 3 (Paris 1954), pp. 419—428.

    (6) De divisions naturae IV. 14, col. 804CD.

    (7) Ibid. iv. 14, col. 803B.

    (8) Ibid. v. 37, col. 992A.

    (54) history of Christian Philosophy in the Middle Ages (New York 1960), p. 114.

81. Savage, John J. 1958. "Two Notes on Johannes Scotus." Scriptorium no. 12:228-237.

82. Schrimpf, Gangolf. 1973. "Zur Frage der Authentizität unserer Texte von Johannes Scottus' 'Annotationes in Marcianum'." In The Mind of Eriugena, edited by O'Meara, John Joseph and Bieler, Ludwig, 125-137. Dublin: Irish University Press.

83. ———. 1977. "Wertung und Rezeption antker Logik im Karolingerreich." In Logik, Ethik, Theorie der Geisteswissenschaften. XI. Deutscher Kongress für Philosophie, Göttingen, 5 - 9 Oktober 1975, edited by Patzig, Günther, Scheibe, Erhard and Wieland, Wolfgang, 451-456. Hamburg: Meiner.

    "In the years preceding the mid-9th-century Predestination controversy, the doctrine of the Church was defended, and taught, by means of the catena, that is by a survey of the teaching of the Fathers of the Church. In the middle of the 9th century a new method was resorted to by Eriugena, viz. the use of Logic. The author seeks to identify JSE's probable sources in ancient and late antique literature: these he lists, together with the provenance of the manuscripts to which JSE could have had access. He discerns three crucial stages in the dissemination of the relevant literature, viz. Charlemagne's circle and in particular Alcuin, the monastery of Fulda under Rhabanus Maurus, and the cathedral school at Laon in the period of Martinus Scottus and JSE - about 840-860. At the first stage Logic remained a theoretical school subject: at Fulda syllogistic argument began to be appreciated; in Eriugena's writings it became part of the very fabric, reflecting the inherent negative and positive aspects that he sought to express. This bries article is enriched by two valuable pages of footnotes." (Brennan, pp. 45-46).

84. ———. 1982. Das Werk des Johannes Scottus Eriugena im Rahmen des Wissenschaftsverständnisses seiner Zeit. Eine Hinführung zu Periphyseon. Münster: Aschendorff.

85. ———. 1989. "Die systematische Bedeutung der beiden logischen Einteilungen (divisiones) zu Beginn von Periphyseon." In Giovanni Scoto nel suo tempo. L'organizzazione del sapere in età carolingia, 113-151. Spoleto: Centro Italiano di Studi dull'Alto Medieoevo.

86. ———. 1990. "Der Begriff des Elements in Periphyseon III." In Begriff und Metapher. Sprachform des Denkens bei Eriugena, edited by Beierwaltes, Werner, 65-79. Heidelberg: Carl Winter.

87. ———. 1992. "Vita - anima - corpus spirituale. Ein Vorschlag zur Interpretation von Periphyseon III cap. 36-39 und V col. 978B-994B." In From Athens to Chartres. Neoplatonism and Medieval Thought. Studies in Honour of Edouard Jeauneau, edited by Westra, Haijo Jan, 195-221. Leiden: Brill.

    "Johannes Scottus Eriugena stellt im dritten Buch seines Hauptwerks eine Verbindung zwischen den Begriffen Leben, Seele und Körper her, die ihm zu behaupten gestattet, nach dem Untergang der wahrnehmbaren Welt lebe jeder Mensch mit einem corpus spirituale weiter. Daß er mit diesem Gedanken die christliche Lehre von der Auferstehung des Fleisches als eine Behauptung nachweisen will, die widerspruchsfrei gedacht werden kann und daher eine reale Möglichkeit festhält, zeigt sich im fünften Buch. Um prüfen zu können, ob ihm dieser Nachweis gelungen ist, ist zunächst der systematische Ort zu bestimmen, den er dem der Begriff der Seele in Periphyseon zuweist; denn um seinetwillen wird der Gedanke entwickelt, der die drei genannten Begriffe miteinander verbindet. Sodann ist der Gedanke selbst darzulegen und ist zu klären, als was darin “Leben”, “Seele”, und vor allem corpus spirituale verstanden werden. Erst im Wissen darum kann untersucht werden, wie haltbar der entwickelte Gedanke ist." (s. 195).

88. ———. 2007. "Eine wissenschaftstheoretische Anwendung der "dialectica" bei Johannes Scottus Eriugena." In Dialektik und Rhetorik im früheren und hohen Mittelalter. Rezeption, Überlieferung und gesellschaftliche Wirkung antiker Gelehrsamkeit vornehmlich im 9. und 12. Jahrhundert, edited by Fried, Johannes, 51-72. München: R. Oldenbourg.

89. Sheldon-Williams, Inglis Patrick. 1961. "The Title of Eriugena's Periphyseon." In Studia Patristica. Vol. III, edited by Cross, F. L., 297-302. Berlin: Akademie Verlag.

90. ———. 1967. "The Greek Christian Platonist Tradition from the Cappadocians to Maximus and Eriugena." In The Cambridge History of Later Greek and Early Medieval Philosophy, edited by Armstrong, Arthur Hilary, 425-536. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

91. ———. 1973. "Eriugena's Greek Sources." In The Mind of Eriugena, edited by O'Meara, John Joseph and Bieler, Ludwig, 1-15. Dublin: Irish University Press.

    "In the first part of this paper I should like to deal, briefly and on the whole dismissively, with the pagan sources, and in the second with the Christian sources, with an attempt to show how Eriugena first co-ordinated them into a single body of doctrine and then adapted that doctrine to purposes of his own." (p. 1)

    (...)

    "Plato, then, is known to Eriugena, as to others of his time, not as a writer with whose works he is immediately familiar, but as a kind of eponymous hero of Platonism revealed through the natural philosophers who were his successors: Plato philosophantium de mundo maximus.(20) Aristotle occupies a similar position in the field of dialectic: acutissimus apud Graecos naturalium rerum discretionis repertor.(21) He knew Boethius’s commentary on the De interpretatione, and therefore its Greek name, which Boethius gives,(22) but what he says of the work itself is as vague and inaccurate as his knowledge of the Timaeus. In the Annotationes he simply says that it is a work that treats of the noun, the verb, the connection between them, affirmation, negation and species.(23) In the Periphyseon, written when memory of his early reading has grown fainter, he is even less precise and recalls it as a treatise dealing wholly or for the most part with the possible and the impossible.(24) He also knows of the ten Categories, and devotes a long excursus to them in the first book of the Periphyseon, but his knowledge comes from the fourth-century Latin paraphrase of the De categoriis that was widely read in his time and commonly attributed to St Augustine. There is nothing, he says, that cannot be found in this paraphrase except that he knows from Martianus Capella of a divergent tradition which, in enumerating the Categories, places quality before quantity,(26) an order which he himself adopted in the first draft of the Periphyseon." (p. 2)

    (...)

    "At the beginning of the De praedestinatione, his earliest work, after re-stating St Augustine’s declaration that the only true philosophy is religion and the only true religion philosophy,(44) he describes philosophy as a quadriuium of which the four branches are διαιρετική, οριστική, αποδεικτική and αναλυτική.(45) These are the names given to the four branches of dialectic by the Peripatetic scholars of Alexandria: Ammonius in his commentary on the Prior Analytics,(46) the Pseudo-Ammonius in his commentary on Porphyry’s Isagoge(47) and David, called the Armenian, in the first recension of his commentary on the same work.(48)" (pp. 3-4)

    (20) Eriugena, Periphyseon I. 31, p. 114, 24-25.

    (21) Ibid., 14, p. 84, 17-18.

    (22) Id., Annot., p. 93, 7; of. Boethius, In librum Aristotelis Peri hermeneias, I, ed. C. Meiser (Leipzig 1877), p. 32, 9.

    (23) Ibid., p. 93, 7-9.

    (24) Id., Periphyseon II. 29, 597 B10-C8.

    (25) Id., Annot., p. 95, 11-17.

    (44) Augustine, De uera religione V.

    (45) Eriugena, De praedestinatione I. 1, 358A2-15; Prudentius, De praedestinatione 1, PL 115. 1011D; Floras, Lib. adu. Joh. Scot., I, PL 119 104A.

    (46) Ammonius, In anal. pr., Prooem., Comm. Arist., graec. IV. 6, pp. 7, 26-8, 9.

    (47) Ps.-Ammon., In isag., p. 24, 34 Busse.

    (48) MS. Paris BN gr. 1939.

92. Silvestre, Hubert. 1952. "Le commentaire inédit de Jean Scot Érigène au mètre IX du livre III du De consolatione philosophiae de Boèce." Revue d'Histoire Ecclésiastique no. 47:44-122.

93. ———. 1956. "Jean Scot Érigène, commentateur de Prudence." Scriptorium no. 10:90-92.

94. Smith, Lesley. 1989. "The Manuscript Tradition of Periphyseon Book 4." In Giovanni Scoto nel suo tempo. L'organizzazione del sapere in età Carolingia, edited by Leonardi, Claudio, 499-512. Spoleto: Centro italiano di studi sull'Alto Medioevo.

95. ———. 1992. "Yet more on the Autograph of John the Scot: MS Bamberg Ph. 2/2 and Its Place in Periphyseon Tradition." In From Athens to Chartres. Neoplatonism and Medieval Thought. Studies in Honour of Edouard Jeauneau, edited by Westra, Haijo Jan, 47-70. Leiden: Brill.

    "Perhaps because the newest critical edition of Johannes Scotus Eriugena’s Periphyseon reached only the end of book three before its editor’s [J. P. Sheldon-Williams] death, recent discussion of the manuscript tradition of the work has tended to centre around the codices important to the first three books and containing, by and large, the first and second versions of Eriugena’s text. Subsequently, those volumes containing only books four and five, or interesting particularly for versions three and four of the text, have been neglected. In this paper I should like to redress that balance somewhat, especially in regard to the Bamberg manuscript of books four and five, Bamberg, Staatsbibliothek, MS Ph. 2/2 (HJ. IV 6) = J. As I, together with Dr. Mark Zier, am presently assisting Edouard Jeauneau with the edition of Periphyseon books four and five, in order to complete Sheldon-Williams’ critical edition, it seems appropriate to concentrate on this part of the textual tradition.

    Against all expectations, Bamberg J has proved a singularly fascinating witness to the text and I shall concentrate on it in detail, particularly noting the light it brings to the thorny problem of Eriugena’s autograph and the contemporary circle of scholars in the area. Firstly, however, in order to set the scene, and for the sake of a clarity which previous editions have not fostered, if only because of constantly shifting nomenclature, I shall survey the manuscript tradition of the work as a whole." (p. 47)

    (...)

    "This study has been centred on one manuscript and really only one book of Periphyseon; it shows the limitations as well as the fruitfulness of such concentration. It highlights the importance of a new edition since knowledge of the text— the actual writing of and working over of these manuscripts—is crucial to the understanding of their makeup and use. In the meantime, J shows us at least one other, somewhat learned, reader of Eriugena’s text. It is becoming more and more evident that Johannes Scotus was not working in a vacuum but amongst a group of receptive and critical readers." (p. 70).

96. Steel, Carlos. 2014. "Maximus Confessor and John Scottus Eriugena on Place and Time." In Eriugena and Creation. Proceedings of the Eleventh International Conference on Eriugenian Studies, held in honor of Edouard Jeauneau, Chicago, November 9-12, 2011, edited by Otten, Willemien and Allen, Michael I., 291-318. Turnhout: Brepols.

97. Stock, Brian. 1967. "The Philosophical Anthropology of Johannes Scottus Eriugena." Studi Medievali no. 8:1-57.

98. ———. 1967. "Observations on the use of Augustine by Johannes Scottus Eriugena." Harvard Theological Review no. 60:213-220.

    "The ninth-century metaphysician, John the Scot, who came very probably from Ireland to write both polemics and philosophy at the court of Charles the Bald, is known to have read a number of Augustine's writings, and to have cited them in his major work, De Divisione Naturae or Periphyseon,(1) at times without showing much regard for the context of his quotations. He composed Periphyseon around 86o A.D., (2) in a period which was noted for the dissemination of traditional theological ideas to a large, poorly educated public, rather than for its innovations.(3) The influence of Greek ideas on John's mind, unusual in his day, but not quite so unusual as we used to believe, (4) gradually gave rise to the position, now commonly held by historians, that his thought was more or less dominated by Greek ideas to the exclusion of the Latins. This position has had to be modified, however, in the light of closer examination of his use of figures like the

    Pseudo-Dionysius."

    (1) A list of citations from Augustine in Periphyseon and other works is compiled by Dom M. Cappuyns, Jean Scot Erigène: sa vie, son oeuvre, sa pensée (Brussels, 1964 [reprint]), 388f.

    (2) I. P. Sheldon-Williams, A Bibliography of Johannes Scottus Eriugena, Journal of Ecclesiastical History X' (1959), 198f.

    (3) B. Smalley, The Study of the Bible in the Middle Ages (Oxford, 1952), 371.

    (4) On the use of Greek in the theological literature of the period, see A. Siegemund, Die Überlieferung der griechischen christlichen Literatur in der lateinischen Kirche bis zum XII. Jahrhundert (Munich, 1949), and the occasional remarks of B. Bischoff in Wendepunkte in der Geschichte der lateinischen Exegese in] Frühmittelalter, Sacris Erudiri VI (1954), 189-281; on Eriugena's study of Greek, Cappuyns, op. cit., 128-46.

99. ———. 1977. ""Intelligo me esse": Eriugena's "Cogito"." In Jean Scot Erigène et l'histoire de la philosophie, edited by Roques, René, 327-336. Paris: Éditions du Centre national de la recherche scientifique.

100. ———. 1980. "In Search of Eriugena's Augustine." In Eriugena. Studien zu seinen Quellen, edited by Beierwaltes, Werner, 85-104. Heidelberg: Carl Winter.

     "My purpose is to suggest some new lines of direction in assessing the influence of Augustine on the Periphyseon.

     To date, Augustine’s influence has been gauged by allusions, quotations, misquotations and points of opposition to works which we know for sure that the bishop of Hippo wrote. But the now extensive literature on the subject(1) has paid little attention to the conception Eriugcna himself had of Augustine. Eriugcna was not only acquainted with most of the Maurist canon(2); he also considered authentic later syntheses of Augustine’s doctrines like those of Bede and at least one spurious treatise, the anonymous fourth century Decem Categoriae. Eriugena’s assimilation and transformation of these texts, particularly in books one and two, coloured his interpretation of better known passages from such works as De Genesi ad Litteram, De Trinitate and De Civitate Dei. Their logical bent not only provided him with a rationale for harmonizing the views of the Latins and the Greeks secundum Augustinum. In combination with other works on the trivium actively studied at the ‘palace school’(3), they laid the foundation for a number of more general statements on language, reality and God’s word.

     Augustine’s influence should therefore be viewed in two perspectives. The predominant role was played by the real Augustine. While some passages of the theological writings were undoubtedly read in the light of pseudo-Augustine, the majority were not. Nor is there any single key which will unlock the secrets of Eriugena's reading of Augustine as a whole. On the other hand, Eriugena should not be separated artificially from the intellectual milieu of the later Carolingian age. Alcuin, Rabanus Maurus, Heiric of Auxerre and others not only recognized Augustine as the central Latin father and philosopher of history but also as an incisive commentator on topics of ancient logic and grammar. Eriugena undoubtedly shared their views." (pp. 85-86)

     (1) For a concise recent bibliography, sec G. Madec, “1.'Augustinisme de Jean Scot dans le De Praedestinatione”, in [R. Roques, ed.,] Jean Scot Érigène et l’histoire de la philosophie (Paris, 1977), 183 n 1. The subject is also dealt with in the following articles in the same volume: J. J. O'Meara, "Eriugena’s Use of Augustine in his Teaching of the Return of the Soul and the Vision of God,” 191-200; J. Moreau, “Le verbe et la création selon S. Augustin et J. Scot Erigène,” 201-09; B. McGinn, “The Negative Element in the Anthropology of John the Scot.” 315-25 and B. Stock, “Intelligo me Esse: Eriugena’s ‘Cogito’”, 327-34.

     (2) See in general Dom M. Cappuyns, Jean Scot Érigène, sa vie, son œuvre, sa pensée, repr. (Brussels, 1964), 388-89 and, on the ratios of citations of Augustine to Greek authors in the Periphyseon, O'Meara, art. cit., 191-92.

     (3) See G. Mathon, “Les formes et la signification de la pédagogie des arts libéraux au milieu du IXe siècle. L’enseignement palatin de Jean Scot Érigène,” in Arts libéraux et philosophie (Montréal and Paris, 1969), 47-64; on Eriugena’s biblical studies, see John J. Contreni, “The Biblical Glosses of Haimo of Auxerre and John Scottus Eriugena,” Speculum 51 (1976), 411-34; on the work of Irish scholars more generally, see Bernhard Bischoff, “Irische Schreiber im Karolingerreich,” Jean Scot Érigène, 47-58 and John J. Contreni, "The Irish 'Colony' at Laon during the Time of John Scottus,” ibid., 59-67. On the growth of interest in logic, sec the brief review of A. van der Vyver, “Les étapes du développement philosophique du haut moyen âge,” Revue belge de philologie et d’histoire 7 (1929), 435-40.

101. Théry, Gabriel. 1931. "Scot Erigène traducteur de Denys." Archives d'Histoire Doctrinale et Littéraire du Moyen-Age:185-278.

     "Pour sa traduction des écrits du Pseudo-Denys, Scot Erigène dispose déjà de la version d'Hilduin. D'ailleurs il y a tout lieu de croire que, dès 851, il compte parmi les hellénistes de son temps. Importance du vocabulaire de la version de Scot Erigène pour la connaissance du langage philosophique et théologique qui se crée en Occident au IX siècle. Les idées nouvelles introduites par Denys vont déterminer une langue nouvelle.".

102. ———. 1933. "Scot Erigène introducteur de Denys." The New Scholasticism no. 7:91-108.

103. Tomasic, Thomas Michael. 1988. "The Logical Function of Metaphor and Oppositional Coincidence in the Pseudo-Dionysius and Johannes Scottus Eriugena." The Journal of Religion no. 68:361-376.

104. Touchette, Gilles. 1986. "L'affixation dans le "Periphyseon". Analyse générale et èétude d'un cas type." In Jean Scot écrivain, edited by Allard, Guy-H., 327-341. Paris: Vrin.

105. Traube, Ludwig. 1912. Autographa des Iohannes Scottus. Aus dem Nachlass hrsg. von Edward Kennard Rand. Mit 12 Tafeln. Vorgelegt am 13. Januar, 1912. München: Verlag der Königlich Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften.

     Extracted from Palaeographische Forschungen, V.

106. Trego, Kristell. 2008. "La subsistence des existants. La contribution de Jean Scot Erigène à la constitution d'un vocabulaire latin de l'être." Chora: Revue d'études anciennes et médiévales no. 6:143-180.

     "S'il reprend des thèmes chers à la patristique, Erigène adapte ces notions théologiques afin de penser non plus tant l'être divin, que l'être créé, en sa condition même de créature. Ainsi Erigène reconnaît-il aux êtres créés, qu'il nomme «existants» (existentia), une subsistence qui, si elle se fonde dans l'essence divine, s'en distingue toutefois.

     Quoi qu'il en soit du contexte néoplatonicien dans lequel intervient le terme subsistence (utilisé notamment pour traduire l'huparxis du Pseudo-Denys ou de Maxime le Confesseur), l'on ne saurait le réduire à la nomination de la venue à l'être (c'est l'existence qui évoque cette idée). Réinvestissant la notion de subsistence qui s'est construite chez ses prédécesseurs latins, notre auteur s'en sert pour faire signe vers l'idée d'une permanence de ce qui est au-delà de la procession qui lui a permis d'accéder à l'être.".

107. Trouillard, Jean. 1973. "Érigène et la théophanie créatrice." In The Mind of Eriugena, edited by O'Meara, John Joseph and Bieler, Ludwig, 98-113. Dublin: Irish University Press.

108. ———. 1977. "La notion d' "analyse" chez Érigène." In Jean Scot Erigène et l'histoire de la philosophie, edited by Roques, René, 349-356. Paris: Éditions du Centre national de la recherche scientifique.

109. ———. 1983. "Erigène et la naissance du sens." In Platonismus und Christentum. Festschrift für Heinrich Dörrie, edited by Blume, Horst-Dieter and Mann, Friedhelm, 267-276. Münster: Aschendoff.

     "L'Auteur part de la distinction entre "Dieu" et la Déité chez Eckhart ("Dieu" nous cache la Déité), et montre que l'origine s'en trouve chez Erigène. Il présente ainsi le problème du "sens", c'est-à-dire de l'émergence de "Dieu", à partir du "non-sens originel" de la Déité, chez l'Erigène reconstruisant sa théorie des théophanies, sa théorie de la lumière et du néant, sa doctrine des mouvements de l'âme. Il conclut en inscrivant J. Scot dans le courant général du néoplatonisme. L'incarnation du verbe est le point d'articulation du non-sens originel avec le déploiement de la nature.".

110. Vernet, André. 1977. "Fragment d'un manuscrit du "Periphyseon" de Jean Scot (XIe siècle)." In Jean Scot Erigène et l'histoire de la philosophie, edited by Roques, René, 101-108. Paris: Éditions du Centre national de la recherche scientifique.

111. Vezin, Jean. 1977. "A propos des manuscrits de Jean Scot : quelques remarques sur les manuscrits autographes du haut moyen åge." In Jean Scot Erigène et l'histoire de la philosophie, edited by Roques, René, 95-100. Paris: Éditions du Centre national de la recherche scientifique.

112. Walker, G. S. M. 1966. "Erigena's Conception of the Sacraments." Studies in Church History no. 3:150-158.

113. Weiner, Sebastian Florian. 2007. Eriugenas Negative Ontologie. Amsterdam: B. R. Grüner.

     "Recently, there has been an upsurge of interest in the work Periphyseon of the early medieval philosopher John Scot Eriugena. Previous research has classified the book either as a piece of Neoplatonic philosophy or as part of the Latin dialectic tradition, which has led to one-sided interpretations. The present publication focuses instead on the philosophical claims defended in the Periphyseon itself, examines its originality and discusses the soundness of its argumentation. As a result, a hitherto unnoticed basic thought of the work has been uncovered, namely the concept of a negative ontology, according to which all substance is completely incomprehensible. This notion constitutes the greatest innovation of Eriugena's thought. In keeping with his negative ontology, Eriugena downgrades the fourfold division of nature that he had presented at the beginning of his work. A critical survey of the current readings of Eriugena as a Neoplatonist and idealist completes this book.".

114. ———. 2008. "Eriugena's Innovation." Vivarium no. 46:1-23.

     "John Scot Eriugena's work Periphyseon is commonly regarded as having introduced Neoplatonism into early medieval thinking. Eriugena's theory of the reunification of the Creator and his creation is then viewed as being based on the Neoplatonic scheme of procession and reversion. However, this interpretation falls short of Eriugena's intentions. Above all, he denies any ontological difference between Creator and creation without taking recourse to the Neoplatonic considerations of procession and reversion. Surprisingly, according to Eriugena's explanation, God is not only the Creator but he is also created. He is created insofar as he alone, possessing all being, is the essence of all created things. Moreover, the fourfold division of nature, presented at the beginning of the work, is not Eriugena's own innovation, but a common Carolingian concept. It is rather his aim to show that from an ontological point of view this division has to be resolved.".

115. Wilband, Marie Michelle. 2008. Ingenium veterum mirabile laudet. Eriugena's reception of the Aristotelian categories and their role in the Periphyseon.

     Unpublished MA Thesis, Dalhousie University, Halifax, available at ProQuest Dissertations & Theses.

     Contents: Abstract VI; Acknowledgments VII; 1. Introduction 1; 2. Th Early Tradition of the Categories from Aristotle to Ammonius 6; 3. Eriugena's Direct Sources - The Categories from Augustine to Alcuin 29; 4. Eriugena's Reception and Treatment of the Categories 48; 5. Conclusion 92; Bibliography 97-107.

     "Eriugena's discussion of the Aristotelian categories in Book One of the Periphyseon has the appearance of a mere digression in the context of the work as a whole. Moreover, it is often seen as an incoherent interpretation of Aristotle's original doctrine put forward in the Categories. This thesis proposes to correct these views by reading Eriugena's treatment of the categories in the context of the Neoplatonic commentary tradition, as well as in Eriugena's own historical context. Eriugena's interpretation of the categories becomes coherent when read as a Carolingian development of the Late Antique commentators, Iamblichus in particular. The fruit of that development, namely Eriugena's unusual approach to the categories as generative intellectual realities, makes his treatment of them integral to his system, and the appropriate starting point for the Periphyseon as a whole."

     .

116. Wohlmann, Avital. 1983. "L'homme et le sensible dans la pensée de Jean Scot Erigène." Revue Thomiste no. 83:243-273.

117. ———. 1983. "L'ontologie du sensible dans la philosophie de Scot Erigène." Revue Thomiste no. 83:558-582.

118. ———. 1987. L'homme, le monde sensible et le péché dans la philosophie de Jean Scot Erigène. Paris: Vrin.

     Préface de Édouard Jeauneau.

119. Zier, Mark A. 1989. "The Shape of the Critical Edition of Perhyseon IV." In Giovanni Scoto nel suo tempo. L'organizzazione del sapere in età Carolingia, edited by Leonardi, Claudio, 487-498. Spoleto: Centro italiano di studi sull'Alto Medioevo.

120. ———. 1992. "The Growth of an Idea." In From Athens to Chartres. Neoplatonism and Medieval Thought. Studies in Honour of Edouard Jeauneau, edited by Westra, Haijo Jan, 71-83. Leiden: Brill.

     "At a rather more microcosmic level, the earliest manuscript of Periphyseon, Reims, Bibl. mun., MS 875 (= R), provides a glimpse of how these themes unfolded in the mind of the author himself through a fascinating sequence of additions and emendations to the text that are presently being clarified in the critical edition of the fourth book of that work.

     Taken together, the additions and emendations in R effectively constitute the second recension of the text. The additions are generally straightforward and intended to amplify the author’s argument. When the additions are brief, they accomplish that goal quite handily. But on several occasions the author chooses to amplify his text by means of lengthy citations of the authorities of the ancient church—Augustine, Boethius, Pseudo-Denis, Gregory of Nyssa, Maximus the Confessor—that occasionally do more to muddle than to clarify the author's point, as we shall see below.

     Eriugena has emended his text, on the other hand, with an eye to reshaping his argument. In Book IV, which is cast as a commentary on the creation of human being and the events in Eden, it would seem to be the author’s eschatological vision of Book V, both in its anthropology and its understanding of deification, that stands behind most of the major emendations. The understanding of that vision, which only becomes clear for the author as he first describes it in Book V, compells him to reshape his earlier text according to his later conclusions. His understanding of the return of all things to God in and through human nature leads him to rework in Book IV his presentation of human nature as the image of God, to precise the noetic nature of that image, and to distinguish between the general redemption of human nature and the deification of the saints." (pp. 71-72)

     (...)

     "Has Scottus revised his description of the microcosm in Book IV before composing his understanding of the eschatological vision in Book V? It is perhaps more than coincidence that R gives evidence of significant emendation of some of the elements that will play a key role in his eschatological vision. Unfortunately the text in R terminates just prior to the end of Book IV, and provides no sure evidence. Nevertheless, it is entirely likely that as he worked out his understanding of the reditus in Book V, the implications of that understanding compelled him to return to his earlier work, especially his discussion of the nature of human being. And it is fitting that we can still trace in the manuscripts that preserve his thought this dialectical dimension in the mind of Eriugena, for whom dialectic was of the essence in the procession and return of the cosmos to God." (pp. 82-83).

121. Zuanazzi, Giovanni. 2003. "Dire l’indicibile. Negazione e trascendenza nel Periphyseon di Giovanni Scoto Eriugena." Acta Philosophica no. 12:89-121.