William of Ockham
William of Ockham or Occam OFM (/ˈɒkəm/ OK-əm; Latin: Gulielmus Occamus;[9][10] c. 1287 – 10 April 1347) was an English Franciscan friar, scholastic philosopher, apologist, and Catholic theologian, who is believed to have been born in Ockham, a small village in Surrey.[11] He is considered to be one of the major figures of medieval thought and was at the centre of the major intellectual and political controversies of the 14th century. He is commonly known for Occam's razor, the methodological principle that bears his name, and also produced significant works on logic, physics and theology. William is remembered in the Church of England with a commemoration on the 10th of April.[12]
William of Ockham
1287
9 April 1347 (aged 59–60)
Life[edit]
William of Ockham was born in Ockham, Surrey, in 1287.[13] He received his elementary education in the London House of the Greyfriars.[14] It is believed that he then studied theology at the University of Oxford[7][8] from 1309 to 1321,[15] but while he completed all the requirements for a master's degree in theology, he was never made a regent master.[16] Because of this he acquired the honorific title Venerabilis Inceptor, or "Venerable Beginner" (an inceptor was a student formally admitted to the ranks of teachers by the university authorities).[17]
During the Middle Ages, theologian Peter Lombard's Sentences (1150) had become a standard work of theology, and many ambitious theological scholars wrote commentaries on it.[18] William of Ockham was among these scholarly commentators. However, William's commentary was not well received by his colleagues, or by the Church authorities.[19] In 1324, his commentary was condemned as unorthodox by a synod of bishops, and he was ordered to Avignon, France, to defend himself before a papal court.[18]
An alternative understanding, recently proposed by George Knysh, suggests that he was initially appointed in Avignon as a professor of philosophy in the Franciscan school, and that his disciplinary difficulties did not begin until 1327.[20] It is generally believed that these charges were levied by Oxford chancellor John Lutterell.[21][22] The Franciscan Minister General, Michael of Cesena, had been summoned to Avignon, to answer charges of heresy. A theological commission had been asked to review his Commentary on the Sentences, and it was during this that William of Ockham found himself involved in a different debate. Michael of Cesena had asked William to review arguments surrounding Apostolic poverty. The Franciscans believed that Jesus and his apostles owned no property either individually or in common, and the Rule of Saint Francis commanded members of the order to follow this practice.[23] This brought them into conflict with Pope John XXII.
Because of the pope's attack on the Rule of Saint Francis, William of Ockham, Michael of Cesena and other leading Franciscans fled Avignon on 26 May 1328, and eventually took refuge in the court of the Holy Roman Emperor Louis IV of Bavaria, who was also engaged in dispute with the papacy, and became William's patron.[18] After studying the works of John XXII and previous papal statements, William agreed with the Minister General. In return for protection and patronage William wrote treatises that argued for Emperor Louis to have supreme control over church and state in the Holy Roman Empire.[18] "On June 6, 1328, William was officially excommunicated for leaving Avignon without permission",[16] and William argued that John XXII was a heretic for attacking the doctrine of Apostolic poverty and the Rule of Saint Francis, which had been endorsed by previous popes.[16] William of Ockham's philosophy was never officially condemned as heretical.[16]
He spent much of the remainder of his life writing about political issues, including the relative authority and rights of the spiritual and temporal powers. After Michael of Cesena's death in 1342, William became the leader of the small band of Franciscan dissidents living in exile with Louis IV. William of Ockham died (prior to the outbreak of the plague) on 9 April 1347.[24]
Theological thought[edit]
Church authority[edit]
William of Ockham denied papal infallibility and often went into conflict with the pope.[44] As a result, some theologians have viewed him as a proto-Protestant.[45] However, despite his conflicts with the papacy he did not renounce the Roman Catholic Church.[46] Ockham also held that councils of the Church were fallible, he held that any individual could err on matters of faith, and councils being composed of multiple fallible individuals could err.[47] He thus foreshadowed some elements of Luther's view of sola scriptura.[48][49][50]
Church and State[edit]
Ockham taught the separation of church and state, believing that the pope and emperor should be separate.[46]
Literary Ockhamism/nominalism[edit]
William of Ockham and his works have been discussed as a possible influence on several late medieval literary figures and works, especially Geoffrey Chaucer, but also Jean Molinet, the Gawain poet, François Rabelais, John Skelton, Julian of Norwich, the York and Townely Plays, and Renaissance romances. Only in very few of these cases is it possible to demonstrate direct links to William of Ockham or his texts. Correspondences between Ockhamist and Nominalist philosophy/theology and literary texts from medieval to postmodern times have been discussed within the scholarly paradigm of literary nominalism.[53] Erasmus, in his Praise of Folly, criticized him together with Duns Scotus as fuelling unnecessary controversies inside the Church.
In fiction[edit]
William of Occam served as an inspiration for the creation of William of Baskerville, the main character of Umberto Eco's novel The Name of the Rose, and is the main character of La Abadía del Crimen (The Abbey of Crime), a video game based upon said novel.