When1: 1327
Who: William of Occam or William Ockham
What: philosopher
Where: London, England
works\ Summary of Logic [1327]
Detail: He lived 1285 to 1349, was Franciscan and nominalist, studied legal and property rights, and argued with Pope John XXII. He opposed William of Sherwood, Peter of Spain, and Walter Burleigh. He developed syllogisms with inferences, worked on modal logic, and studied logic of terms {supposition theory, Occam}.
Epistemology
Logic concepts are about meaning, not about mental states, and are natural objects or idea signs. Words are signs used by convention. Words have two uses: one is to represent object and the other is to have meaning. Rational soul knows immaterial world. Sensitive soul perceives material world. Sense knowledge is an object sign and is sensitive-soul state or action. Sensations do not involve copying objects. Cause's powers, not God's will, cause causation, so he opposed Henry of Ghent. People should use as few concepts as necessary to explain idea {Ockham's razor, Occam}.
Ethics
Divine will is obligatory for all actions.
Law
Right is freedom and ability to act. Command or contract can make law.
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Date Modified: 2022.0224