English Franciscan friar and theologian (c. 1287–1347)
William of Ockham
OFM
William of Ockham depicted on a stained glass window at All Saints' Church, Ockham[5]
Born
1287 (1287)
Ockham, Surrey, England
Died
9 April 1347(1347-04-09) (aged 59–60)
Munich, Duchy of Bavaria, Holy Roman Empire
Education
Greyfriars, London[6]
Alma mater
University of Oxford[7][8]
Notable work
Summa Logicae
Era
14th-century philosophy
Medieval philosophy
Region
Western philosophy
School
Scholasticism
Occamism
Nominalism[a]
Theological voluntarism[1]
Main interests
Natural philosophy
metaphysics
epistemology
theology
logic
ontology
politics
Theological voluntarism
Notable ideas
Occam's razor
Nominalism
Empiricism[2]
William of Ockham or OccamOFM (/ˈɒkəm/OK-əm; Latin: Gulielmus Occamus;[9][10] c. 1287 – 10 April 1347) was an English Franciscan friar, scholastic philosopher, apologist, and Catholic theologian, who is believed to have been born in Ockham, a small village in Surrey.[11] 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 14th century. He is commonly known for Occam's razor, the methodological principle that bears his name, and also produced significant works on logic, physics and theology. William is remembered in the Church of England with a commemoration on the 10th of April.[12]
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^Walker, L. (1912). "Voluntarism". In Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved 27 September 2019 from New Advent.
^Longeway, John (2007). Demonstration and scientific knowledge in William of Ockham: a translation of Summa logicae III-II : De syllogismo demonstrativo, and selections from the prologue to the ordinatio. University of Notre Dame. p. 3. Ockham may reasonably be regarded as the founder of empiricism in the European tradition.
^Jaegwon Kim, Ernest Sosa, Gary S. Rosenkrantz (eds.), A Companion to Metaphysics, Wiley-Blackwell, 2009, p. 164: "Buridan, Jean."
^Summa Logicae (c. 1323), Prefatory Letter, as translated by Paul Vincent Spade (1995).
^Brunton, J. (2022). Rogues, Rebels and Mavericks of the Middle Ages. Amberley Publishing. p. 425. ISBN 978-1-3981-0441-9. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
^Spade, Paul Vincent (ed.). The Cambridge Companion to Ockham. Cambridge University Press, 1999, p. 18.
^Cite error: The named reference Spade20 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference Merton was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Jortin, John. Remarks on Ecclesiastical History, Volume 3. p. 371.
^Johann Jacob Hofmann. Lexicon universale, historiam sacram et profanam omnis aevi omniumque... p. 431.
^There are claims also that he was born in Ockham, Yorkshire but it is now accepted that his birth place was in Surrey. See Wood, Rega (1997). Ockham on the Virtues. Purdue University Press. pp. 3, 6–7n1. ISBN 978-1-55753-097-4.
^"The Calendar". The Church of England. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
WilliamofOckham or Occam OFM (/ˈɒkəm/ OK-əm; Latin: Gulielmus Occamus; c. 1287 – 10 April 1347) was an English Franciscan friar, scholastic philosopher...
Occam or Ockham may refer to: WilliamofOckham (c. 1287–1347), English friar, philosopher and theologian Ockham's Razor, named after him Byron King-Noel...
Sherlock Holmes and to WilliamofOckham. The name itself is derived from WilliamofOckham and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's book The Hound of the Baskervilles...
prominent proponent of this view. His particular view was that universals are little more than vocal utterances (voces). WilliamofOckham (1285–1347) wrote...
prominent proponent of nominalism. Nominalist ideas can be found in the work of Peter Abelard and reached their flowering in WilliamofOckham, who was the most...
of scholasticism"), Peter Abelard, Alexander of Hales, Albertus Magnus, Duns Scotus, WilliamofOckham, Bonaventure, and Thomas Aquinas. Aquinas's masterwork...
William of Ockham (c. 1288 – c. 1348) was an English Franciscan friar and scholastic philosopher. He is perhaps most well known for his principle of parsimony...
the High Middle Ages, together with Thomas Aquinas, Bonaventure and WilliamofOckham. Duns Scotus has had considerable influence on both Catholic and secular...
Occamism (or Ockhamism) is the philosophical and theological teaching developed by WilliamofOckham (1285–1347) and his disciples, which had widespread...
Logicae ("Sum of Logic") is a textbook on logic by WilliamofOckham. It was written around 1323. Systematically, it resembles other works of medieval logic...
techniques ofWilliam Heytesbury and WilliamofOckham are indicative of this trend. Other contributors to natural philosophy are Albert of Saxony, John...
Biography (4th ed.). ANU Press. ISBN 978-1-76046-126-3. Jurgens, William (1970). The Faith of the Early Fathers. Vol. 3. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press...
otherwise." WilliamofOckham. Quodlibeta 3.13 WilliamofOckham. Reportata 4.16; see also Osborne 2005 D'Ailly, Pierre. Questions on the Books of the Sentences...
in Scarlet) and to WilliamofOckham (see the next section). The name of the novice, Adso of Melk, refers to Melk Abbey, the site of a famous medieval...
understanding of the poverty of Christ and his apostles, promulgating multiple papal bulls to enforce his views. This led WilliamofOckham to write against...
Augustine of Hippo, Justin Martyr and Tertullian, then continuing with writers such as Thomas Aquinas, Duns Scotus, WilliamofOckham and Anselm of Canterbury...
Numerous variants of the theory have been presented: historically, figures including Saint Augustine, Duns Scotus, WilliamofOckham and Søren Kierkegaard...
First Vatican Council of 1870. WilliamofOckham (d. 1349) wrote some of the earliest documents outlining the basic understanding of conciliarism. His goal...
truth, or falsehood, of the claim at hand. Karl Popper would also describe himself as an agnostic. According to philosopher William L. Rowe, in this strict...
scientists like William Crookes, and philosophers such as Henry Sidgwick and William James.[citation needed] Parapsychological investigation of the afterlife...
his protection, including Michael of Cesena and the philosopher WilliamofOckham, an advocate of an early form of church and state separation. In 1326...
Scotus Walter Burley Hervaeus Natalis WilliamofOckham Jean Buridan Jean Capréolus Meister Eckhart Dominic of Flanders Paolo Barbò da Soncino Marsilio...
theory of truth Coherence theory of truth Subjectivism Tertullian taught fideistic concepts such as the later philosophers WilliamofOckham and Søren...