Occamism (or Ockhamism) is the philosophical and theological teaching developed by William of Ockham (1285–1347) and his disciples, which had widespread currency in the 14th century. Occamism differed from the other Scholastic schools on two major points: (1) that only individuals exist, rather than supra-individual metaphysical universals, essences, or forms (universals are the mind's abstract products and have no independent existence), and (2) the reduction of

ontology In metaphysics, ontology is the philosophical study of being, as well as related concepts such as existence, becoming, and reality. Ontology addresses questions like how entities are grouped into categories and which of these entities exis ...

Content and method

Occamism questions the physical and Aristotelian

metaphysics Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality, the first principles of being, identity and change, space and time, causality, necessity, and possibility. It includes questions about the nature of conscio ...

and, in particular, insists the only reality accessible to knowledge is

intuitive Intuition is the ability to acquire knowledge without recourse to conscious reasoning. Different fields use the word "intuition" in very different ways, including but not limited to: direct access to unconscious knowledge; unconscious cognition; ...

. The

universals In metaphysics, a universal is what particular things have in common, namely characteristics or qualities. In other words, universals are repeatable or recurrent entities that can be instantiated or exemplified by many particular things. For exa ...

, which exist only in the mind, have no correspondence with reality and are mere signs that symbolize a multiplicity of individuals. The further one goes from experience and generalizes, the more one imagines the constitution of the universal expressed by names. It is therefore necessary to revise the logical structures of discourse and language to separate the sign from the signified thing. Criticism of the concept of cause and substance, especially by the Occamistic

Nicholas of Autrecourt Nicholas of Autrecourt ( French: ''Nicholas d'Autrécourt''; Latin: ''Nicolaus de Autricuria'' or ''Nicolaus de Ultricuria''; c. 1299, Autrecourt – 16 or 17 July 1369, Metz) was a French medieval philosopher and Scholastic theologian. Life a ...

, reduces the sciences to immediate and intuitive ways of knowing. The Occamists using the nominalist method separate theology from Aristotelian foundations, making them lose any possibility of presenting themselves as science, and reducing confidence in the power of reason applied to supposed demonstrations of God's existence and any immortality of the

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

. Despite this, they posited God's absolute power to explain the contingency of creatures and the laws of nature. Divine omnipotence also includes the idea that God can comprehend a nonexistent object: an anticipation of the "deceptive God", a theme Descartes used in asserting the certainty of the

cogito ergo sum The Latin , usually translated into English as "I think, therefore I am", is the "first principle" of René Descartes's philosophy. He originally published it in French as , in his 1637 ''Discourse on the Method'', so as to reach a wider audien ...

. Occamism had wide influence between the 14th and 17th centuries, contributing to the progressive dissolution of Scholastic Aristotelianism

Notes

De contemptu mundi ''De Contemptu Mundi'' (''On Contempt for the World'') is the most well-known work of Bernard of Cluny. It is a 3,000 verse poem of stinging satire directed against the secular and religious failings he observed in the world around him. He spares ...

(book 1, v. 952) satirical work by

Bernard of Cluny Bernard of Cluny (or, of Morlaix or Morlay) was a twelfth-century French Benedictine monk, best known as the author of ''De contemptu mundi'' (''On Contempt for the World''), a long verse satire in Latin. Life Bernard's family of origin and place ...

, a Benedictine monk of the 12th century who attacked the corruption of the laity and the Church of his time and who mentioned the nominalistic polemic of the 12th century against the reality of universals: a debate that, according to philosophical historiography, Occamism will take up in the 14th century. According to other authors, Occamism does not resume the nominalistic theses but expresses about universals the doctrine of conceptualism.In Enciclopedia Garzanti di Filosofia

Content and method

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