This is helpfully distinguished as theological. ![]() So why is the principle named after Ockham? Many commentators offer the theory that because of William’s zealous application of reforming simplicity to scholastic philosophy, the principle of parsimony has in modern times come to bear his name. The most prominent of the medieval realists was, of course, Thomas Aquinas, and the most coherent of the later medieval nominalists was William of Ockham, the fourteenth century English philosopher of empiricist leanings who has sometimes been compared with Hume. Voluntarism as applied to divine agency yields a conception of morality as originating in the will of God. In fact, many similar advocates of simplicity can be found commonly through scholastic writings. Occamism (or Ockhamism) is the philosophical and theological teaching developed by William of Ockham (12851347) and his disciples, which had widespread currency in the 14th century. His ethical theories were largely based on his theological and metaphysical views and were influenced by his nominalist philosophy. ![]() If a thing can be done adequately by means of one, it is superfluous to do it by means of several for we observe that nature does not employ two instruments where one suffices. William of Ockham, a 14th-century Franciscan friar, was a significant figure in the development of ethical thought during the medieval period. We may assume the superiority ceteris paribus of the demonstration which derives from fewer postulates or hypotheses. Ockham’s solution is simple: the denial of the reality of universals. natures and essences exist in things as Aquinas/Aristotle say) then voluntarism cannot be true. Ockhams voluntarism greatly accentuates divine omnipotence, significantly reducing the role of reason, expanding the exclusive field of religious beliefs and. However, an endorsement of simplicity can be found as far as back as Aristotle: Ockham, affirming the supremacy of the divine will over the divine intellect, encounters a problem: if universals are real (i.e. It was in his first theologian work from about 1317 when Ockham describing the relationship between Creator and creature introduced an idea that was later to. This has often lead to the misconception that William was the innovator of parsimonious thought. Ockham has a principle of parsimony named after him – Occam’s razor. As a solution he advanced a reform of both method and content with the primary aim of creating a more simple theological system. It was William’s view that the theses of scholastic philosophy and natural theology had become too cumbersome. ![]() William of Ockham was (in)famous for his uncomplicated approach to philosophical matters.
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