Is the World Eternal? Duns Scotus on the Eternity of the World

Is the world eternal or created in time? Can the rational arguments be presented that the world is eternal or that it is created? Can the provided arguments definitively prove that the proposition “The world is eternal” or “The world was created in time?” The issue which modern thinker Kant considered within the antinomies of the reason occupied many thinkers. As a theist thinker Duns Scotus dealt with the eternity of the world as well. However, there are two claims for Scotus position on the eternity-creation of the world. According to first claim, Scotus shares the same idea with Aquinas. The other claim is that Scotus put forwards some rational arguments for the creation of the world. In my opinion, both claims regarding Scotus’s approach to the issue are also true. In his early works Scotus was in an Aquinasian line which argues that we cannot prove the eternity of the world by demonstration. But in his recent works he argues that the creation of the world can be proved by some rational arguments. Therefore, a chronological reading of Scotus’s works will allow us to determine where he stands on this subject. The aim of this study is to reveal the approach of Scotus, who is called Subtle Doctor, and the change of his views over time