About Univocity

Univocity is a strange word…what does it mean and where does it come from? 

 

Univocity was a term coined by John Duns Scotus, a medieval philosopher and Franciscan ( a follower of St.Francis of Assisi) . It literally translates as ‘one voice’ though has a depth of meaning in metaphysics, a branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of Reality. 

 

The philosophical idea (though not the word) was taken from the ways of St.Francis who was renowned for his affinity and unity with nature, including all other human beings and every living thing, even the sun, the moon and the stars whom he called brother and sister.

Duns Scotus suggested that all things we could speak of in the cosmos had in essence some kind of shared reality or Being.

We are all connected.

Without going into the complex metaphysics, the essence of Univocity suggests that all things which exist share in this life in a fundamental way. We are all equally part of this life and are connected to each other and the natural world. Univocity implies a unity of essential being amidst the diversity of all forms and expressions. Gender, beliefs, religion, or any other difference are secondary to

the primacy of our sameness.

This sameness of being declares our equality and provides a basis for universal unity.