Existential Philosophy and Literature
Philip Tonner
The Univocity of Being: Scotus, Heidegger, Deleuze. September 2017.
Philosophy
My PhD thesis (2006) engaged Aristotle, Duns Scotus and Heidegger in a debate over the concept of being and critically engaged with Heidegger’s philosophy of art in relation to history. I engaged Husserl and Heidegger in a debate over the nature of phenomenology and examined Heidegger’s phenomenology of religion in relation to historical manifestations of religious practice. I argued that Heidegger’s temporal configuration of being as meaningful presence amounts to a univocal conception of being in terms of time. I then related this interpretation to Heidegger’s later philosophy.
Heidegger, Metaphysics and the Univocity of Being (Continuum Studies in Continental Philosophy)
Archaeology
The evolutionary context of my DPhil thesis (2016) is the development of the hominin mind from its earliest beginnings through the Upper Palaeolithic Revolution (ca 50,000 ya) to the period of the last 10,000 years. It includes the event referred to as the ‘human revolution’ and has been associated with the appearance of language, with the cognitively fluid modularized mind, with evidence for the external storage of symbolic data and with the appearance of a theory of mind implicated in religious belief. In my thesis I developed the “dwelling perspective” in Palaeolithic archaeology in relation to anthropology and philosophy.
John Duns Scotus Network For the Study of Existential Philosophy, Literature and Arts
The network, named after one of the most prominent European theologians and philosophers born in Scotland, draws on a wide range of expertise in Modern Languages and Cultures, Religious Studies, History of Arts, and Philosophy, as well as on the exceptional bibliographical and iconographic resources at the University of Glasgow in order to promote the study of existential thought, literature and visual arts.
Well-known for his influence on both Catholic and secular thought, and for his doctrine of the ‘univocity of being’ and the idea of ‘haecceity’, Duns Scotus (1266 – 1308) can rightly be considered as one of the predecessors of the modern philosophies of existence, alongside Meister Eckhart, whose thought has often been referred to in the work of Heidegger, Derrida, Agamben and Jean-Luc Nancy.
Here is a link to the upcoming John Duns Scotus Festival and Study Day:
Here is a link to a BBC piece on Duns Scotus and the DS Festival:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-37384386
On Saturday 17th September 2016 I was interviewed about Duns Scotus on BBC Radio Good Morning Scotland. Here is a link to the episode (the interview is on during the last five minutes of the show):
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07v01v7
Duns Scotus Philosophical Writings: A Selection
Network Launch event, visit and celebration of the work of Professor Jean-Luc Marion, 14th March 2016:
Professor Jean-Luc Marion
Paris-Sorbonne University, France, and The University of Chicago.
Publication of his Glasgow Gifford Lectures
Givenness and Revelation (Oxford University Press, 2016)
2.00 p.m. Seminar on the work of Professor Marion
Theology and Religious Studies, Melville Room (Main Building), University of Glasgow.
4.00 p.m. Launch of the John Duns Scotus Network and Display of Incunabula in the Henry Heaney
Room in the University Library, Level 12, Special Collections. In the presence of Professor Marion.
5.30 p.m. Publication Launch of Givenness and Revelation.
Givenness and Revelation
With Drinks Reception, Glasgow University Chapel.
ALL ARE WELCOME
I launched my new book – Phenomenology Between Aesthetics and Idealism (Noesis Press 2015)- as part of this event. Phenomenology between aesthetics and idealism: an essay in the history of ideas (New Studies in Idealism)
John Duns Scotus Study Day
Born in Duns 750 years ago this year, John Duns Scotus rose to become one of the leading philosophers of the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages. Educated at Oxford and in Paris, he was a leading figure in some of the great arguments in the Church, with his followers earning the name ‘Dunces’ – the origin of the Dunce’s Cap. They were called this not because they were stupid, but because they stuck to the teachings of Duns Scotus.
Please see the press cutting below from the Duns Scotus Study Day.
A great place to start with Scotus is Richard Cross’s book in the Great Medieval Thinkers series:
http://www.dunsscotus2016.com/
PROGRAMME OF EVENTS
Exhibition
An exhibition of the life and times of John Duns Scotus and of Berwickshire in the 13th century.
Venue: Duns Exhibition Room at the Library from the 17 Sept – 8 Nov. open during library hours.
September
Saturday 17 at 2pm
Introduction to Duns Scotus
By Professor Alexander Broadie
Venue: Volunteer Hall
Sunday 18 at 2pm
Family Walk
Venue: Meet at statue of Duns Scotus in Duns Public Park ending at Parish Church for refreshments
Friday 23rd at 7:30 (date tbc)
Film:- “The Blessed Duns Scotus”
Venue: Volunteer Hall
Cost: £6 / £5 concessions
Wednesday 28th at 7:30
Talk by Professor J.L.H. Thomas on the Duns portrait of John Duns Scotus
Venue: Dunse History Society meeting at Dunse Social Club, 45 Newtown Street
October
Sunday 2nd at 7:30
Yetholm Sinfonia Concert
Venue: Parish Church
Cost: £7.50 / £5 concession
Friday 14th at 7:30
Concert
Venue: Christ Church
Cost: £7.50 / £5 concession
Saturday 15th from 10-4:30
Conference on John Duns Scotus
Venue: Christ Church
Cost: £5 including lunch
Booking recommended
Sunday 16th at 2pm
Historic Walk
Venue: Meet at Market Cross in town centre ending at Parish Church for refreshments
Friday 21st & Saturday 22nd at 7:30
Play – “You Dunce!”
Venue: Volunteer Hall
Cost: £7.50 / £5 concession
Duns Scotus 2016
Study Day
15th October, 10.00 – 4.00
Christ Church, Duns
The purpose of the Study Day is to bring together a group of scholars and interested people to consider the place of John Duns Scotus in historic and contemporary religious thought and philosophy, together with the influences that helped him to develop his thinking and his continuing influence.
The format will allow for six people to present papers for around 30 minutes, with ample time allowed for discussion and debate. It is anticipated that a publication will derive from the day.
Confirmed speakers:
Antonie Vos, professor of historical theology at the Evangelical Theological Faculty (ETF) in Leuven (Belgium). Author of, among many other works, The Philosophy of John Duns Scotus (2006). Dr Vos will speak about the wordwide influence of John Duns Scotus.
Dr Herbert Schneider, ofm, Director of the Office for Franciscan Institutes, editor and author of many works on the theology of John Duns Scotus.
Dr Philip Tonner, Head of Philosophy and Religion & Director, The Hutchesons’ Centre for Research, Hutchesons’ Grammar School, Glasgow, will speak on the relevance of John Duns Scotus to contemporary philosophy
Paul Starkey, Emeritus Professor, University of Durham, specialising in Arabic literature, will speak on Duns Scotus and the Islamic tradition.
Mary Beth Ingham, Professor of Philosophical Theology, Franciscan School of Theology, Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, Ca., will speak about Duns Scotus and Christian Humanism
Anne Dyer, previously Warden (Principal) of the Anglican Theological College that is part of Durham University (Cranmer Hall) will speak about John Duns Scotus’ beginnings – what might it have meant for him to educated in a Franciscan Friary in Scotland. And what does it meant to be a theologian who is a mendicant friar praying the offices.
Documentary
https://philiptonner.com/research/david-hume/
