William was born in 1287 in the village of ockham probably the village of that name near london in surrey. He entered the franciscan order before studying theology at oxford, c. Eco comments that the existence of these two men made him have to set the novel a couple of centuries later than he would have liked. Pdf for thomas aquinas, economic transactions, as human interactions, cannot. The principle states that if there are several possible hypotheses, the simplest one is probably correct. His various formulations of the principle of parsimony are presented. William of ockham by individual philosopher philosophy. William of ockhams prefatory letter 1 in your recent letter, brother. Since, therefore, 5 moved by a love for your progress and for the truth, i cannot go against. William of ockham article about william of ockham by the.
He was born around 1285, in ockham, surrey, england, and died april 9, 47 in munich. Because of his role in the bitter dispute between the franciscans and pope john xxii over evangelical poverty, he was excommunicated in 28. Ockham criticized the accommodation of the philosophical system of aristotle with christian doctrine that had been fashioned by the thirteenthcentury schoolmen such as thomas aquinas. Munich, germany, 49 philosophy, theology, political theory. He is considered to be one of the major figures of medieval thought and was at the centre of the major intellectual and political controversies of the. William of ockham notes stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. Central to ockham s analysis of the concept of a term is his distinction between categorematic and syncategorematic terms. William of ockham was born in ockham, surrey in 1285. This method had tried to achieve an accord between faith and reason by reinterpretation of the philosophical assumptions of aristotle. Historically, ockham has been cast as the outstanding opponent of thomas aquinas 12241274.
However, thinkers like william of baskerville would have only existed after roger bacon and william of ockham, and this point determined the chronological setting of the novel 27. William of ockham, that entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem. It is the last two words of this phrase that give it meaning. He is probably best known today for his espousal of metaphysical nominalism. The philosophical construct occams razor is fairly well known, but few people know anything about its originator. See all books authored by william of ockham, including philosophical writings. It is believed that he then studied theology at the university of oxford 2 3 from 9 to 21, 14 but while he completed all the requirements for a masters degree in theology, he was never made a regent. William of ockham s prefatory letter 1 in your recent letter, brother. William of ockham, franciscan philosopher, theologian, and political writer, a late scholastic thinker regarded as the founder of a form of nominalismthe school of thought that denies that universal concepts such as father have any reality apart from the individual things signified by the. Rule and ockhams claim at william of ockham, summa logicae sl i.
William of ockham was born in the village of that name in surrey, england. William of ockham english scholastic philosopher and assumed author of occams razor occam, ockham, william of occam. Actually occam or ockham is a town in england, not a man. This pdf version matches the latest version of this entry. The franciscan friar william of ockham was an influential philosopher, logistician, ethicist, and theologian who lived from about 1287 to 47. Theres no need to complicate an explanation beyond what is necessary. November 3, 2012 by emma in uncategorized 3 comments william of ockham was a divine command theorist, thus he believed that reason, and direction from god referred to as divine commmand aid one in determining the moral right or wrongness of an action. William of ockham has 47 books on goodreads with 1110 ratings. William of ockhams mindbody dualism and its transmission to early modern thinkers. The cambridge companion to ockham edited by paul vincent spade.
Similarly, according to these views, those who would hold that aside from the act of understanding there would be an appearance or a habit in the. William of ockham synonyms, william of ockham pronunciation, william of ockham translation, english dictionary definition of william of ockham. William ockham on metaphysics the science of being and god by jenny e. Occamss razor, an ancient philosophical principle often attributed to occam but earlier in origin. To a significant extent, ockhams theory of the mindbody. He was a franciscan friar who came to believe that the avignonese papacy of john xxii had set out to destroy the religious ideal on which the franciscan order was based. A selection, and predestination, gods foreknowledge, and future contingents, and more on.
William of ockham sketch labelled frater occham iste, from a manuscript of ockhams summa logicae, 41 william of ockham. We begin by tracing the personal and scholarly history of william of ockham, the man whose name ockham s razor bears. Ockham, william of, 23 summa logicae, part ii translated as ockhams. Defending the church, condemning the pope ian smith on why ockham thought the pope wasnt a catholic william of ockham is readily acknowledged as one of the most preeminent philosophers of the medieval period, and is known primarily for his work in metaphysics and logic. To view the pdf, you must log in or become a member.
Thomas aquinas, john duns scotus and averroes, he is one of the major figures of late medieval scholastic thought, and was at the center of the major intellectual and political controversies of the 14th century. William of ockham books list of books by author william of. View william of ockham research papers on academia. For an account of ockham s life, including a discussion of how these dates are calculated in ockham s case, see wood 1997, chap. For further details of ockham s life, see courtenay 1999. Selections from part i of william of ockhams summa logicae. Any thinker can combine simple concepts into complex concepts, for exam. Pdf ockhams razor is a heuristic concept applied in philosophy of science to decide. He wrote about logic, epistemology, natural philosophy, political philosophy, metaphysics and ethics. William of ockham simple english wikipedia, the free. A franciscan, occam studied and taught at oxford from c. Pdf ockhams razor and the interpretations of quantum mechanics.
William lived from about 1285 to 49, during the medieval age, a time when surnames were uncommon and people were known by their place of provenance source. William of ockham was born in ockham, surrey in 1285 and joined the franciscan order at an early age. Dialogue on the power of the pope and the emperor natural. Traditionally regarded as the initiator of the movement called nominalism, which dominated the universities of northern europe in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries and played a significant role in shaping the directions of modern thought, william of ockham ranks. William of ockham definition of william of ockham by the. William of ockham stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. Ockhams summa logicae the logic handbook, written ca. William of ockham project gutenberg selfpublishing. Ockham also spelled occam is a contraction of the name of the village william grew up inoak hamlet. Pdf william ockham on metaphysics brill, 20 jenny e. While the principle itself is much more complex, roughly translated, it states. More specifically, its the town where william of occam was born. We can get at this dichotomy if we distinguish between expressions that do and expressions that do not yield a meaningful proposition when substituted for x in this x es or this is aan x.
The dominicans were also called friars, but it is unlikely ockham is referring to a dominican here. It is believed that he studied theology at the university of oxford from 9 to 21, but while he completed all the requirements for a masters degree in theology the 14th century equivalent of a doctorate citation needed he was never made regent master. Dialogue on the power of the pope and the emperor by william of ockham william of ockham. Earlier biographies generally put the date in 1285, but scholars now put it later. Summa logicae introduction o ckham s summa logicae the logic handbook, written ca. Pluralitas non est ponenda sine necessitate plurality should not be assumed unnecessarily in quodlibeta. Ockham s razor is a scientific principle attributed to the 14 th century english logician and franciscan friar, william of ockham. The notion that human thought is structured like a language, with a precise syntax and semantics, has been pivotal in recent philosophy of mind. William of ockham, also called william ockham, ockham also spelled occam, byname venerabilis inceptor latin. His departure from tradition resulted in a tragic collision between two specifically christian ideals. Opera philosophica et theologica file characteristics electronic resource. Aquinas perfected the great medieval synthesis of faith and reason and was canonized by the catholic church. William of ockham, also known as william ockham and william of occam, was a fourteenthcentury english philosopher.
The main reason for rejecting the realist view is that we dont need to put forward the real existence of universals. He received his elementary education in the london house of the greyfriars. All other things being equal, the solution with the least number of assumptions is the best. You can also read more about the friends of the sep society. He probably entered the franciscans at london as puer oblatus, when he was seven or eight, where he would have received instruction in grammar and elementary logic, as well as an introduction to franciscan life. Paul spade argues that there is a tension between ockhams descriptions of the.