William+of+Ockham

=**William of Ockham**= toc William of Ockham (1287-1347) was the last and one of the most prominent [|scholastic]philosophers of the High Middle Ages. His contributions to the intellectual developments of this period were broad in scope dealing with natural philosophy, epistemology, metaphysics and logic, as well as his highly controversial theories regarding political philosophy and theology. Today he is known for his espousal of metaphysical [|nominalism]and the principle which bears his name, Occam’s razor, but in his time he was best known for his polemical writings against the papacy and his division of faith from reason.

Biography[[image:http://wordsmith.org/words/images/ockhams_razor_large.png width="234" height="313" align="left" caption="William of Ockham" link="http://wordsmith.org/words/ockhams_razor.html"]]
William was born in the village of Ockham in the Surrey County, but raised in London under the guidance of the [|Franciscan Order]. In his twenties, William started his philosophical career by studying theology at Oxford. Whilst he did not complete his masters here, he achieved the title of //Venerabilis Inceptor// and was admitted into the teaching staff of the university. Immediately after completing his education, William entered the philosophical and theological debates of his time and quickly became notorious for his controversial commentaries on [|Peter Lombard]’s //Sentences//, which ultimately resulted in a summons to Avignon by [|Pope John XXII] on charges of heresy in 1324. The dispute was long and arduous but eventually concluded in 1328 with William’s excommunication. In response, William fled Avignon with a small group of other Franciscan sympathisers to find refuge in Munich under the patronage of [|Emperor Louis IV of Bavaria]. In Munich, William’s philosophical career shifted focus to an almost exclusive interest in theology, logic and politics until his death in 1348.

Philosophical Thought
William’s philosophy was typified by his insistence on the importance of simplicity, an approach which culminated in his most famous contribution to logic, Occam’s razor. “ For nothing ought to be posited without a reason given, unless it is self-evident (literally, known through itself) or known by experience or proved by the authority of Sacred Scripture.” Which more or less states that the solution of a problem which refers to the least number of variables – the most elegant – should be the favoured one. Using this principle William also made extensive contributions to natural philosophy and aided in the development of metaphysical nominalism, a doctrine which rejects Aristotle’s theory of categories by asserting that ‘universals’ such as, humanity and strength are merely fabrications of the mind and do not have any kind of real substantial existence.

Theological Thought
In theology, William is best known for his attempts to define the relative boundaries of faith and reason, a task which had occupied the greatest thinkers of the High Middle Ages. By postulating God to be the only ontological necessity, William relegated theological truths to acts of faith in God’s will as it is revealed through scripture and thus defined the proper use of reason to the natural world where it would be used as a means of discovery rather than revelation. Where theologians like [|Thomas Aquinas] had tried to synthesise the domains of faith and reason, William had completely separated the two from one another.

Political Thought
William’s political writings were conducted in the later stages of his life after his flight from Avignon. They were mainly concerned with the moral integrity of the papacy but also touched on the more general problems of state versus church authority. Of particular interest for William was the Franciscan ideal of poverty. With this as his foundation, William accused the exuberantly wealthy papacy of corruption by claiming that the Avignon Popes were not living in imitation of Christ. His political works culminated in what could more or less be regarded as his magnum opus //Dialogues.//