William of Ockham 1287 – 1347
William of Ockham was an English Franciscan friar, philosopher, and theologian, one of the most important figures of late medieval thought. He defended a thoroughgoing nominalism, denying the real existence of universals outside the mind, and he is remembered for the methodological principle of parsimony now known as Ockham's razor. His political writings, composed during a long exile from the papal court at Avignon, articulated an early defense of limited papal power and natural rights. His logical and metaphysical works prepared the way for early modern philosophy and the new natural science.
Key facts
- Nationality
- English
- Era
- Medieval
- Movements
- Scholasticism, Medieval, Christian
Selected quotes
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Attributed to William of Ockham:
“Plurality is not to be posited without necessity.”
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Attributed to William of Ockham:
“It is vain to do with more what can be done with fewer.”
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Attributed to William of Ockham:
“Every universal is a thought of the mind, and not anything outside the mind.”
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Attributed to William of Ockham:
“Nothing is to be posited as necessary in nature unless it is established either by self-evidence, or by experience, or by the authority of Sacred Scripture.”
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Attributed to William of Ockham:
“All things are possible to God which are not contradictory.”