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The Cambridge Companion to Ockham
The Franciscan William of Ockham was an English medieval philosopher, theologian, and political theorist. Ockham is important not only in the history of philosophy and theology, but also in the development of early modern science and of modern notions of property rights and church-state relations. This volume offers a full discussion of all significant aspects of Ockham's logic, philosophy of language, metaphysics and natural philosophy, epistemology, ethics, action theory, political thought and theology. It is the first study of Ockham in any language to make full use of the new critical editions of his works, and to consider recent discoveries concerning his life, education, and influences.
440 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1999
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March 31, 2022
A good non-superficial presentation of William of Ockham’s philosophy that places him in his own time period, and also re-interprets him using today’s paradigms.
The essays never overwhelmed and sometimes disagreed among themselves, but that just made for deeper understanding.
Anslem starts the conversation by formalizing the questions, Aquinas amplifies it by predominating reason over faith, Scotus creates a contingent now and prioritizes faith, and Ockham makes the absolute not certain by taking the horseness out of horses and considering all knowledge except for revealed truths as from particulars and generals while negating universals leading to being but never beingness.
All of these characters as well as Aristotle are featured in these essays. Ockham returns the context, relations, and relative back into the world, and when seen through today’s ontological understanding becomes as relevant as any other modern philosopher. The end of nominalism opens the world to a more realistic perspective, and Ockham did just that as he was trying to save the world from Pelagianism.
I don't want to minimize the relevance of Ockham and why he is really worth reading. I do want to recommend him to anyone who is interested in learning about the last great scholastic thinker and these companion guides from Cambridge are a great introduction for just that sort of thing.
The essays never overwhelmed and sometimes disagreed among themselves, but that just made for deeper understanding.
Anslem starts the conversation by formalizing the questions, Aquinas amplifies it by predominating reason over faith, Scotus creates a contingent now and prioritizes faith, and Ockham makes the absolute not certain by taking the horseness out of horses and considering all knowledge except for revealed truths as from particulars and generals while negating universals leading to being but never beingness.
All of these characters as well as Aristotle are featured in these essays. Ockham returns the context, relations, and relative back into the world, and when seen through today’s ontological understanding becomes as relevant as any other modern philosopher. The end of nominalism opens the world to a more realistic perspective, and Ockham did just that as he was trying to save the world from Pelagianism.
I don't want to minimize the relevance of Ockham and why he is really worth reading. I do want to recommend him to anyone who is interested in learning about the last great scholastic thinker and these companion guides from Cambridge are a great introduction for just that sort of thing.
Displaying 1 of 1 review