William of Ockham (c. 1287–1347), English Franciscan, the leading logician of the fourteenth century and the name behind “Ockham’s razor.” His nominalism, his handbook of logic (the Summa logicae) and his later quarrel with Pope John XXII over Franciscan poverty made him one of the most disputed minds of the late Middle Ages. English translations by Paul Vincent Spade (CC BY 4.0) and T. Bruce Birch (1930, United States public domain).
Works (3)
- Summa Logicae, Part I — Spade’s selection from Ockham’s handbook of logic, on terms: what a term is, mental, spoken and written terms, concrete and abstract names, universals, supposition and signification, with Adam Wodeham’s prologue and Spade’s notes. Translation by Paul Vincent Spade, CC BY 4.0. (29 notes)
- De Insolubilibus — Ockham on the insoluble sophisms, the Liar and its kin, from Summa logicae III.3.46. Translation by Paul Vincent Spade, CC BY 4.0. (1 notes)
- The De Sacramento Altaris — Birch’s edition and translation (1930) of Ockham’s tract on the sacrament of the altar: his preface and introduction, the English of the whole tract (three questions, forty-one chapters on substance, quantity and quality in the sacrament of the altar) and his notes. United States public domain (published 1930). (49 notes)