This paper briefly outlines William of Ockham’s life and taking a historical approach, special focus will be on his involvement in the controversy in the Franciscan Order. This will involve the background and circumstances at the time he thrived, the gist of the matter at hand, how he handles the issue, Outcome and consequences. General Observations will be outlined leading to the conclusion.
William of Ockham was born at around 1287 in the village of Ockham in Surrey, East London in England. At a tender age of around 9 or 13 years Ockham was given to the Franciscan Order. William studied and later taught at the Oxford University. He was later controversially denounced by Pope John XXII for dangerous teachings as served a House detention in 1324 to 1328. William sided with the Franciscan General against the Pope. In 1328, he fled to Munich and was excommunicated. He died at around 1347 in Munich at Holy Roman Empire. As a Western Philosopher, he belonged to the Medieval Philosophy in the school of Scholasticism. William of Ockham’s notable ideas are Ockham’s Razor, Nominalism (Spade; Kaye).
It is noteworthy that William of Ockham was the most important schoolman after Thomas Aquinas. He was Duns Scotus’ student at both Oxford University and at Paris. Scotism and Scotus’ writings in general heavily influenced William but he later rivalled Scotism which was a realist approach by rejecting realism. He did this by being the greatest exponent of the Nominalist school, the leading rival of the Thomist and Schotist schools. As an English Philosopher and Scholastic Theologian, William’s intellectual life is replete with confident redefinition of existing philosophical concepts. William of Ockham is considered one of the most prominent f...
... middle of paper ...
...lumbian History of Western Philosophy. New York: Columbia University Press, 1999.
McInery, Ralph. A history of western Philosophy: Upto Ockham
Shand, John. Philosophy and philosophers: An Introduction to Western Philosophy. London: UCL Press, 1993.
Copleston, Frederick. A Histroy pf Philosophy. Late Medieval and Renaissance Philosophy. Vols 3
Copleston, F.C., 1953. History of Philosophy, Volume III: Ockham to Suarez. London: Search Press
Marenbon, John. Routlege History of Philosophy. Medieval Philosophy. vols 3London 1998.
Turner, William. "William of Ockham." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 15. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 18 Apr. 2011 . Accessed: 28 March 2011.
Kaye, Sharon. “William of Ockham (Occam, c.1280 – c.1349)”. (January/3/2007) http://www.iep.utm.edu/ockham/ Accessed: 28 March 2011.
Sargent, Michael G. “Mystical Writings and Dramatic Texts in Late Medieval England.” Religion & Literature , Vol. 37, No. 2 (Summer, 2005), pp. 77-98
Christopher Haigh, ‘The Continuity of Catholicism in the English Reformation’, Past and Present, No. 93 (November, 1981), pp. 37-69.
5. Howe, Helen, and Robert T. Howe. From the Ancient and Medieval Worlds. N.p.: Longman, 1992. Print.
Clarke, Peter. "Canterbury as the New Rome: Dispensations and Henry VIII's Reformation." The Journal of Ecclesiastical History 64, no. 1 (2013): 20-44.
Kretzmann, N. et al (1989). The Cambridge History of Later Medieval Philosophy : From the Rediscovery of Aristotle to the Disintegration of Scholasticism, 1100-1600. Paperback: New York.
John Locke's, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1690), was first criticized by the philosopher and theologian, John Norris of Bemerton, in his "Cursory Reflections upon a Book Call'd, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding," and appended to his Christian Blessedness or Discourses upon the Beatitudes (1690). Norris's criticisms of Locke prompted three replies, which were only posthumously published. Locke has been viewed, historically, as the winner of this debate; however, new evidence has emerged which suggests that Norris's argument against the foundation of knowledge in sense-perception that the Essay advocated was a valid and worthy critique, which Locke did, in fact, take rather seriously. Charlotte Johnston's "Locke's Examination of Malebranche and John Norris" (1958), has been widely accepted as conclusively showing that Locke's replies were not philosophical, but rather personal in origin; her essay, however, overlooks critical facts that undermine her subjective analysis of Locke's stance in relation to Norris's criticisms of the Essay. This paper provides those facts, revealing the philosophical—not personal—impetus for Locke's replies.
The Church in Britain was a medieval “cradle to grave” institution. People were born Christian, received Baptism shortly after, married under a Christian auspices, and were given their Christian last rites shortly before they died. This type of existence is talked of in literature of the time, such as in Langland’s Piers the Ploughman. During a chapter entitled “The Teaching of the Holy Church,” Langland asks for the name of a woman who has quoted “such wise words of Holy Scripture“ (Langland, p. 34):
MACCULLOCH, D. Tudor Church Militant: Edward VI and the Protestant Reformation. London, Penguin Books, 2001.
Spitz, Lewis. The Protestant Reformation. 1st. 1. New York: Haper & Row, 1985. 384-01. Print.
Greengrass, Mark. The Longman Companion to The European Reformation, C. 1500-1618. London: Longman, 1998. Print.
· Raynolds, John. A Defence of the Judgement of the Reformed Churches. Printed by George Walters, 1610.
Mill, J.S. (1852). A Peer Reviewed Academic Resource, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.iep.utm.edu/milljs/ on February 15th, 2014.
Pollen, John Hungerford. "St. Ignatius Loyola." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 7. New York: Robert Appleton Company,1910. 23 Mar. 2014 .
Translated from the Italian by Camilo P. Merlino, Charles W. Arbuthnot, editor. Torino, Italy: Claudiana Editrice, 1980.Fs
Bainvel, Jean. The New Catholic Encyclopedia. New York City: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15006b.htm (accessed September 23, 2011).