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Periphyseon (John Scottus Eriugena)
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John Scottus Eriugena
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John Scottus Eriugena
(fl 9th century)
Irish scholar and theologian who had been active as a teacher at the palace school of Charles the Bald.
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A philosophical-theological work, running to five books, written by the continental Irish scholar known as John Scottus Eriugena (fl. 9th century). Presented in the form of a dialogue between teacher and student, it develops a Neoplatonic cosmology that classifies nature (natura) according to two main questions: whether or not it is created and whether or not it creates. On this basis, four types of natura are distinguished: (1) the Creator, who creates but is not created, (2) the causae primordiales or causes of Creation (which create and are created), (3) the temporal effects of Creation (which do not create), and (4) non-being, for which neither holds true. In presenting many of his cases, Eriugena draws heavily on Greek Christian sources. Already somewhat influential in Eriugena’s own life-time, the work gained special prominence among scholars and philosophers of the 12th century and onwards.
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