William of Ockham

Also known as Guilelmus de‏ ‎Ockham, William of Occam, William of Oakham

English Franciscan friar and theologian (c.1287–1347)

AI overview

William of Ockham was an English Franciscan friar and theologian from the late 1200s and 1300s who developed influential ideas about logic, language, and knowledge that challenged the thinking of his time. His work matters because his approach to explaining how we understand the world—particularly his emphasis on not multiplying explanations unnecessarily—shaped philosophical and scientific thinking for centuries to come.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Person · Open Library

Born: ca. 1285
Died: ca. 1349
Works: 177

Top works

[Commentary on the Sentences
Notitia deitatis sub propria ratione deitatis ...
Explicit sc[ri]ptu[m] Fr[atr]is Wilh[elm]i de Hockam sup[er] p[ri]mu[m] Sen[tenci]ar[um]
Logica dei termini
Wilhelm Ockham (1349-1949)

via Open Library + Wikidata

Music · MusicBrainz

Type: Person
Gender: Male
Origin: Neuchâtel

via MusicBrainz · CC0

Listeners · Last.fm

Listeners: 2
Total plays: 2

Works in European collections

17 objects attributed to William of Ockham, held across European museums, libraries & archives · via Europeana

Quaestiones et decisiones in quattuor libros Sententiarum ; Centilogium theologicum

Dyalog[us] inter clericum et laycum super dignitate regia. De natiuitate [et] morib[us] antichristi.

Egidius de roma super libros metheorum. De bona fortuna. Thomas super duos primos libros celi et mundi. Et petrus de aluernia super duos sequentes. Egidius de roma super de generatione et corruptione. Et quedam expositiones super libros ethicorum. Questiones ockam super phisicam. Et tractatus eiusdem de futuris contingentibus [fenestratitel]

Article

William of Ockham or Occam (/ˈɒkəm/ OK-əm; Latin: Gulielmus Occamus; c. 1287 – 9/10 April 1347) was an English Franciscan friar, scholastic philosopher and theologian, born probably in Ockham, a small village in Surrey. 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. The nominalists of the fifteenth century regarded him as one of the founders of their movement. He is widely known for Occam's razor, the methodological principle that bears his name. He produced significant works on logic, physics and theology. Ockham is remembered in the Church of England with a commemoration corresponding to the commonly ascribed date of his death on 10 April.

Life