Publication Details

Abstract

Duns Scotus argues that the will has a bent for the pleasant, by the help of which the humans want to reach some benefits for them, as well as a bent for justice, on the ground of which humans are able to love independently of their own benefits. It is the objective justice, which establishes the moral good of a practical act. The moral good is in full accordance with the true judgment of reason, which sets the necessary conditions for a morally good action. According to Duns Scotus there are two kinds of moral norms, whose validity and obligation can be known naturally. The first kind is equal to natural law in the strict sense of the word. Its truth results from the formal contents of the concepts. The second kind is equal to natural law in the full sense of the word, i.e. to the norms of human relationships and the relationships of men to themselves. These norms can be syllogistically deduced from the first practical principles.