Scholastic Antecedents to Semiotics: Future Contingents in Robert Holcot’s "Commentary on the Sentences" (Lib. II, q. 2)

Abstract

The position about contingent futures that Holcot presents in his Comentary on the Sentences, although central and much debated in his time, is little known today. The aim of this paper is to review the general content of the quaestio 2, as well as some key passages from the translation (in progress) based on the version edited by Streveler and Tachau (1995). We will analyse the Dominican's thesis that future events do not become necessary when revealed, as this would, in his view, nullify free will, but remain contingent, mutatis mutandis, as Aristotle once argued. Similarly, we will show how, to sustain this, one must admit the possibility, at least logically, that God – who has scientia of future events – is deceitful insofar as he can make prophecies that are not fulfilled. This possibility, exemplified by passages from Scripture and endorsed by the authority of Augustine, leads Holcot to admit that salvation can be granted to people based on a false belief.