William of Heytesbury, or William Heytesbury, called in
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
Guglielmus Hentisberus or Tisberus (c. 1313 – 1372/1373), was an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
philosopher and logician, best known as one of the
Oxford Calculators
The Oxford Calculators were a group of 14th-century thinkers, almost all associated with Merton College, Oxford; for this reason they were dubbed "The Merton School". These men took a strikingly logical and mathematical approach to philosophical ...
of
Merton College
Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, ch ...
,
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
, where he was a fellow.
Life
Heytesbury had become a
fellow
A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context.
In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements.
Within the context of higher education ...
of Merton by 1330. In his work he applied logical techniques to the problems of
divisibility, the
continuum
Continuum may refer to:
* Continuum (measurement), theories or models that explain gradual transitions from one condition to another without abrupt changes
Mathematics
* Continuum (set theory), the real line or the corresponding cardinal number ...
, and
kinematics
Kinematics is a subfield of physics, developed in classical mechanics, that describes the Motion (physics), motion of points, Physical object, bodies (objects), and systems of bodies (groups of objects) without considering the forces that cause ...
. His ''
magnum opus'' was the ''Regulae solvendi sophismata'' (''Rules for Solving
Sophisms''), written about 1335.
He was
Chancellor
Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...
of the
University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
for the year 1371 to 1372.
Works
* 1335 - ''Regulae solvendi sophismata'' (''Rules for Solving Sophisms'')
** 1. ''On insoluble sentences''
** 2. ''On knowing and doubting''
** 3. ''On relative terms''
** 4. ''On beginning and ceasing''
** 5. ''On maxima and minima''
** 6. ''On the three categories'' (''De tribus praedicamentis)''
* 1483 - ''De probationibus conclusionum tractatus regularum solvendi sophismata'' (''On the Proofs of Conclusions from the Treatise of Rules for Resolving Syllogisms) -'' Pavia
* ''Liber Calculationum''
Notes
Further reading
* Sylla, Edith (1982), "The Oxford Calculators", in
Norman Kretzmann
Norman J. Kretzmann (4 November 1928 – 1 August 1998) was a professor of Philosophy at Cornell University who specialised in the history of medieval philosophy and the philosophy of religion.
Kretzmann joined Cornell's Department of Philosophy ...
,
Anthony Kenny
Sir Anthony John Patrick Kenny (born 16 March 1931) is a British philosopher whose interests lie in the philosophy of mind, ancient and scholastic philosophy, the philosophy of religion, and the philosophy of Wittgenstein of whose literary esta ...
& Pinborg (edd.), ''The Cambridge History of Later Medieval Philosophy''.
* Murdoch, John (1982), "Infinity and Continuity", in Kretzmann, Kenny & Pinborg (edd.), ''The Cambridge History of Later Medieval Philosophy''.
* Curtis, Wilson (1956), ''William Heytesbury. Medieval Logic and the Rise of Mathematical Physics.'' Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.
External links
*
14th-century English mathematicians
Medieval English mathematicians
14th-century philosophers
14th-century English writers
14th-century Latin writers
Scholastic philosophers
Fellows of Merton College, Oxford
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