The Cambridge Companion to Ockham

Offers a full discussion of all significant aspects of this medieval philosopher's thought.

Paul Vincent Spade (Edited by)

9780521587907, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 13 December 1999

440 pages, 1 b/w illus.
22.7 x 15.3 x 2.6 cm, 0.58 kg

'This book is a must read for any student of Ockham, or someone who would like an accessible but scholarly introduction to his thought.' The Southern Baptist Journal of Theology

The Franciscan William of Ockham (c. 1288–1347) was an English medieval philosopher, theologian, and political theorist. Along with Thomas Aquinas and Duns Scotus, he is regarded as one of the three main figures in medieval philosophy after around 1150. 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 thought: 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.

Introduction Paul Vincent Spade
1. The academic and intellectual worlds of Ockham William J. Courtenay
2. Some aspects of Ockham's logic C. G. Normore
3. Semantics and mental language Claude Panaccio
4. Is there synonymy in Ockham's mental language? David Chalmers
5. Ockham's nominalist metaphysics: some main themes Paul Vincent Spade
6. Ockham's semantics and ontology of the categories Gyula Klima
7. Ockham's philosophy of nature André Goddu
8. The mechanisms of cognition: Ockham on mediating species Eleonore Stump
9. Ockham's misunderstood theory of intuitive and abstractive cognition Elizabeth Karger
10. Ockham's ethical theory Peter King
11. Ockham on will, nature and morality Marilyn McCord Adams
12. Natural law and moral omnipotence A. S. McGrade
13. The political writings John Kilcullen
14. Ockham on faith and reason Alfred J. Freddoso
15. Ockham's repudiation of Pelagianism Rega Wood.

Subject Areas: Western philosophy: Medieval & Renaissance, c 500 to c 1600 [HPCB]