Overview
William of Ockham (c. 1287–1347) was an English Franciscan philosopher-theologian associated with late medieval nominalism. Educated at Oxford, he faced doctrinal charges at Avignon and later sided with the Franciscan minister general against Pope John XXII on poverty. Political writings defended limits on papal power. Handbook consensus places his life c. 1287–1347. “Ockham’s razor” popularly names his preference for theoretical parsimony.
Main ideas
Universals are names and concepts, not shared real forms existing outside the mind. Cognition begins with intuitive grasp of particulars; abstraction yields general terms. Razor-like parsimony rejects unnecessary entities in explanations. God’s absolute power (potentia absoluta) underscores contingency of the created order without denying ordained regularity. Ethics emphasizes will and divine command themes in contested modern readings. Church–empire polemics argue that spiritual and temporal jurisdictions must be distinguished to protect evangelical poverty and secular legitimacy.
Major works
- Summa Logicae
- Quodlibetal Questions
- Opera Politica
- Commentary on the Sentences
Legacy
Nominalism and logical theory shaped late scholastic and early modern philosophy. Political tracts fed conciliar and secularizing debates. The razor became a proverb of scientific method beyond its medieval setting.