Filippo Fabri coinceived himself as a follower of Scotus promoting the
latter’s positions in the contemporary milieu. He advocated a conception
of metaphysics built on five pillars: transcendental being is a formalitas;
transcendental being is the subject of metaphysics; transcendental being
virtually contains everything that metaphysics deals with; possible theoretical
sciences are four, but only three of them are viable for human beings;
metaphysics does not absorb the remaining theoretical sciences. Fabri’s
position appears simple, yet it hides a number of critical issues; examining
them allows us to qualify the variant of Scotism supported by Fabri as a
strongly realist one and suggests the reasons why other Scotists propounded
different readings of the position of Scotus.
Keywords: history of renaissance philosophy, history of early-modern
philosophy, history of university philosophy, history of metaphysics, Filippo
Fabri.