The two-leggedness of John is a particular quality and so is the distinct two-leggedness of Mary, so there is nothing universal out there, but these are cues that Tim can use when he does the groupings. The nominalist is able to say that the individual humans have various similarities: for instance each of them is two-legged, unlike the cherry trees and wolves (by the way what are your wolves eating? I am worried about the humans). Yes, that's exactly the sort of argument that motivates realism, but it is not quite so easy. A mouse clearly has the concepts of cat, water and cheese. Last note: Not only humans but other mammals can also perceive forms. We cannot do this without the forms, ie, the objects 'telling us' somehow what they are. But to be able to do this we must have already succeeded in classifying some of the objects around us as 'humans' and distinguished them from the rest. Let us return back to 'we have humanity when we think all the humans indifferently'.

If the external objects themselves suggested to Tim how they should be grouped, then we arrive at realism. If the chosen grouping is a social convention which does not have any basis in the external world, the question is how such a social convention is formed.

Where does timmy get his cues when he juct picks one particular grouping/naming among millions of possible ones? Actually, there is 11! possible groupings, but Tim will only pick one among them, and will discard the rest. Tim will never group one of the wolves, two of the cherry trees, John and one water spring together and give them a name. He will similarly give a common name to the four cherry trees and the two water springs. He will put a separate name on the three wolves, which in our language correspond to 'wolf'. In time, Tim will learn that John and Mary form a separate group, and put a name on them which in our language corresponds to 'human'. Take the assertion 'when you are thinking about humanity, you are simply thinking about all the humans indifferently' (12:41)Īssume that there is an island in the middle of the sea on which there are eleven different objects: two persons: John and Mary, three wolves, four cherry trees, and two water springs.Īssume John and Mary had a son and they named him Tim. Plurality should not be assumed without necessity.I found medieval nominalism impossible to understand. It is vain to do with more what can be done with less. His well-known philosophical principle of ‘Occam’s razor’ argues that explanations should be examined thoroughly and unnecessary assumptions stripped away. William of Occam’s best-known philosophical contributions of nominalist philosophy saw God as beyond human powers of reasoning, and things as provable only by experience or by scriptural authority. William also published several important political treatises 1333–47, generally targeted against the papal claims to civil authority, including the Octo quaestiones de potestate papae (1340–41, ‘Eight Questions on the Authority of the Pope’) and the Opus nonaginta dierum (1332–34, ‘Work of 90 Days.’)

William of Occam published many works on logic while at Oxford and Avignon, notably the Summa Logicae (1323 ‘Sum of Logic,’) Quodlibeta Septem (1327, ‘Quodlibetal Questions,’) and commentaries on the Sentences of theologian Peter Lombard and many expositions of Aristotle. William died in Munich, possibly of the Black Death, the Plague epidemic that reached its peak in Europe 1347–51. William remained under the protection of Emperor Louis of Bavaria until 1347.

William of Occam took refuge in Bavaria in 1328 when the Pope excommunicated him. He became involved in a theological dispute about Franciscan poverty, which the Pope had denounced on doctrinal grounds. He was summoned to Avignon by Pope John XXII to answer charges of heresy. A major figure in the history of philosophy and a defender of nominalism, he is known for the maxim called ‘Occam’s razor.’īorn in Ockham, Surrey, William entered the Franciscan order, studied, and taught philosophy at Oxford until 1324. William of Occam or Ockham (c.1285–c.1349,) nicknamed Venerabilis Inceptor (Latin: “Venerable Enterpriser,”) or Doctor Invincibilis (“Invincible Doctor,”) was an English theologian, Franciscan friar, scholastic philosopher, and polemicist.

William of ockham quote