Bibliography.

· 

·                   (Langston, 2008)

Ø  Langston, D.C. (2008). The aristotelian background to scotus's rejection of the neccessary connection of prudence and the moral virtues. Franciscan Studies, 66. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=16&hid=15&sid=354af5a7-3b40-4c6a-bd1b-40b14d13c8d1%40sessionmgr104 

 (Rowell, & Hall, 2007)

Ø  Rowell, G., & Hall, C. (2007). Duns scotus and the polity of god, canon law and ecclesial identity, human rights and hierarchy. International Journal for the Study of the Christian Church, 7(1), Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=2&hid=105&sid=08353971-f867-4961-9fa5-9658f53b2c9c%40sessionmgr12  doi: 10.1080/14742250601153781

 (Sullivan, 2010)

Ø  Sullivan, S.M. (2010). Duns scotus on the will: a summary of two distinctions. The Center for Thomistic Studies, Retrieved from http://www.scottmsullivan.com/articles/scotus.pdf

 

·                   (The Subtle Doctor, 2000)

Ø  The philosophy of john duns scotus. (2000). Retrieved from http://www.radicalacademy.com/philscotus.htm

               (Williams, 2010)

Ø  Williams, T. (2010). John Duns Scotus. The stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. Retrieved November 9, 2010, from http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2010/entries/duns-scotus/

Election Shmlection.

Dear Avid Bloggers,

                The election results are all in. It is official, there is a republican majority. Personally I find this to be fantastic news. I always talk about how the power of a government should come from the consent of the governed. I remember when I first introduced that radical idea four centuries before Locke did. When I talked about a government’s legitimacy and moral right to use state power is only justified and legal when derived from the people or society over which that power is exercised, no one really thought it would catch on. Today though, I am living here in America, and it’s a democracy, which is now run by people who believe that majority of the governments power should come from the people.

                I am glad that the republicans won, it comforts me knowing that the people in office share the same political ideals as me. They know their power comes from the people, something the democrats might not understand the way that the government should be run to satisfy the wants and needs of the people. The only thing that could improve my mood more is if we got a republican president in the white house.

                Hopefully the politicians that were voted into office keep their promises and live up to my standards as republicans. I would hate for them to make my ideas look bad to everyone else here in America. If all goes ideally like I talked of, the nation will be better than it ever has been. Happy people, no debt, strong government powered by the people, but that’s only if everything goes perfectly.

Life is feeling pretty sweet for me right now, knowing that without me, it is possible that the United States of America might not exist. Had I not first thought of it, and then Locke almost restating my ideas, the United States would have never had an idea of how to set up their government. This feeling is almost indescribable. I have never felt so significant in all of my life.

-The Blessed Duns Scotus

God Gave Us Everything, Even The Ability To Be Bad!

Dear Avid Bloggers, 

I believe in an all knowing, all powerful, and all good God. I also believe that this God created man. He created man because he chose to do so. He made the decision to create man, and then decided what kind of world man should live in. God was able to create man and man’s world because he has his own free will. When he created man he gave them the ability to think for themselves and make decisions, he gave them free will.

Since the creation of man was purely a decision made by God, he was able to create the world as he saw fit. Once man was created, God decided that he was not going to intervene with them. Not to say he couldn’t intervene, just that he chooses not to do so. Should he see the world needs him to intervene; he DOES have the ability to do so. But since he is deciding not to and letting the world play its course, it allows for the existence of good, and the existence of evil.

I believe that since Man has the ability to make decisions for themselves, some may choose a life devoted to God. They pray, and thank him every day in hopes to get closer to God and so that they can be rewarded in the afterlife. If a man is righteous during his life, God may choose to allow them to live in heaven. Not all men choose to live that life devoted to God though; some may choose to live a life of evil. God will not stop them from living that life on Earth, but he may choose to punish him in the afterlife.

I know through reason that God has free will. He created Man, he gave Man free will, and with that free will comes decisions, with those decisions the existence of good and evil are possible. Since God does not intervene, evil’s existence cannot be stopped or punished until after people pass on to the afterlife where God can choose what to do with each individual person. So, even if God is all knowing, all powerful, and all good, evil can exist through the free will of man that he grants them to have. 

 -The Blessed Duns Scotus

Party's Here!

Dear Avid Bloggers,

I tried my absolute hardest to find some form of morality in the slop-festival you people call Jersey Shore Season Two. It was a long and treacherous task, but I have dug DEEP down to the core and attempted to scrape up something i can call virtuous. Of course, these barbarians by no means have moral virtues, for they would need to continuously practice acts of virtue which they clearly do not. The way I see it, the easiest way to begin a pathway to any kind of virtue is to find a right reason.To create a right reason, you should have a right time, place, manner, and end.

Well, the only example I could find that could possibly be labeled as virtuous is the note that Ms. Nicole "Snooki" and Ms. Jennifer "JWOWW" wrote to Ms. Samantha concerning the scandalous acts of infidelity her beau Ronald committed numerous evenings. The word "vice" fits well for those repeated acts of crude behavior. Jennifer and Nicole were concerned about their fellow roommate and seemed to feel obligated to let her know of the indecencies without upsetting dear Ronald.

These girls had a good reason to be so cautious of their friends feelings, they tried to time it right, they kept the confrontations at the house, and also did attempt to stay in a (somewhat- not including the minor altercation between Jennifer and Samantha) civil manner throughout the entire process. I'd say I can give them their right reason. Next is the proper prudence, and I'd say Ms. Nicole and Ms. Jennifer performed a courageous  prudence act this Season. 

Although I was able to contort my findings to showcase these ladies as having prudence, I cannot however dub them morally virtuous. This is because though they learned the right reason associated with a moral virtue, they lacked delight in performing the act for the virtue. Virtues contain four characteristics; delight, ease, quickness, and readiness. You must have all of them in order to be complete, so until the ladies have all four of these characteristics they are not yet morally virtuous. In the end, Ms. Snook and Ms. Jwoww have prudence, but lack relevant moral virtue.

-The Blessed Duns Scotus

Do We Even Have A Choice??

Dear Avid Bloggers,

I have come upon a question that I feel should be addressed:

When it comes to the idea of Man's free will, I believe that we have the ability to choose our own path. The will is not influenced by anything, not even God. God's teachings and the world around us can only influence, not determine our will.

I've thought long and hard about the subject, and came to the conclusion that our will bases its decisions on its appetites- free and natural. In fact, the free appetite usually follows the natural. By this I mean that God does not decide our fate, he doesn't even decide what we decide! What we choose to do and why is based upon our will, which makes its decisions based upon the appetites.

If anyone is wondering what these appetites are, let me explain. Appetites are the inclination towards something, kind of like having an appetite for food. The Natural Appetite seeks one thing and one thing only- Happiness. This appetite is not based on knowledge or reason, but simply on the inclination towards happiness. When we choose to do something based off of our Natural Appetite, we are doing it for the sake of something good.

Now the Free Appetite on the other hand, is not always inclined for the good. We sometimes make choices that have some downfalls left over. The Free Appetite is really the decision to act or not act. A good example of this is when you have to make the decision between eating a vegetable, or eating candy. Each decision would have a downside to it; Candy tastes delicious but is generally unhealthy for you, and vegetables are healthy but taste icky. Don't get me wrong though, the Free Appetite is just that- FREE! If a decision is not completely inclined towards goodness, we can opt not to choose it.

Our will is really a free appetite with our own reasoning intertwined.We decide and act based on what we will, and what we will cannot be determined by anyone other than ourselves. As our wills choose based on goodness and reason, we decide our own fate!

-The Blessed Duns Scotus