William of Ockham

William of Ockham
OFM
William of Ockham OFM
	William of Ockham depicted on a stained glass window at All Saints' Church, Ockham
Born	1287; Ockham, Surrey, England
Died	9 April 1347 (aged 59–60); Munich, Duchy of Bavaria, Holy Roman Empire
Education	Greyfriars, London
Alma mater	University of Oxford
Notable work	Summa Logicae
Era	14th-century philosophy; Medieval philosophy;
Region	Western philosophy
School	Scholasticism; Occamism; Nominalism; Theological voluntarism;
Main interests	Natural philosophy; metaphysics; epistemology; theology; logic; ontology; politics; Theological voluntarism;
Notable ideas	Occam's razor; Nominalism; Empiricism;

William of Ockham or Occam OFM (/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]

Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

^ 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.

[2] Walker, L. (1912). "Voluntarism". In Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved 27 September 2019 from New Advent.

[3] 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.

[4] Jaegwon Kim, Ernest Sosa, Gary S. Rosenkrantz (eds.), A Companion to Metaphysics, Wiley-Blackwell, 2009, p. 164: "Buridan, Jean."

[5] Summa Logicae (c. 1323), Prefatory Letter, as translated by Paul Vincent Spade (1995).

[Brunton_2022_p._425-6] 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.

[7] Spade, Paul Vincent (ed.). The Cambridge Companion to Ockham. Cambridge University Press, 1999, p. 18.

[Spade20-8] Cite error: The named reference Spade20 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Merton-9] Cite error: The named reference Merton was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[10] Jortin, John. Remarks on Ecclesiastical History, Volume 3. p. 371.

[11] Johann Jacob Hofmann. Lexicon universale, historiam sacram et profanam omnis aevi omniumque... p. 431.

[12] 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.

[13] "The Calendar". The Church of England. Retrieved 27 March 2021.

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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]