Tao Te Ching
William of Ockham
1287 – 1347 CE
Major intellectual figure during medieval times, Franciscan friar at the center of the biggest political controversies of his era, and famous for his principle now called Occam’s razor; William of Ockham’s commentaries were condemned by a council of bishops and he was commanded to defend himself at a papal court. Instead, he fled the country, took refuge with the Holy Roman Emperor, and was excommunicated. One of the first to encourage a strong separation between church and state, a liberal democratic ideology, and social contract theory; his Occam's Razor theory became a small-is-beautiful, less-is-more foundation for modern science and natural philosophy.
Lineages
British Christian Scientists
Eras
Western
Renaissance (1304 – 1576 CE)Chinese
Yuan Dynasty 元朝 (1271 – 1368 CE)Unlisted Sources
Quotes by William of Ockham (7 quotes)
“It is needless to do with more what can be done with less.”
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“The explanation requiring the fewest assumptions is most likely to be correct.”
Chapters:
37. Nameless Simplicity
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“Never increase, beyond what is necessary, the number of entities required to explain anything.”
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“My God is the green tide in the spring leaves, the redness of cherries high in the air, the song of birds in summer branches, the sunrise on a winter's morning, the name of everything we don't understand...”
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“Do you defend me with the sword, and I will defend you with the pen.”
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“Our knowledge is molded and limited by our means and ways of perceiving things; it is locked up in the prison of our minds and it must not pretend to be the objective or ultimate truth about anything.”
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“What Christianity needs is a return from the Church to Christ, from wealth and power to simplicity of life and humility of rule. The Church should be defined not as the clergy alone but as the whole Christian community... a council should choose and govern the pope.”
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Quotes about William of Ockham (3 quotes)
“logic and theory of knowledge had become dependent on metaphysics and theology. Occam set to work to separate them again... [his] political works are written in the style of philosophic disputations, with arguments for and against , sometimes not reaching any conclusion.”
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“the most famous philosopher of the 14th century, William of Ockham... did not wait till death to burn; his whole life was one of hot controversy, cooled only by occasional imprisonment... His life, adventures, and aims prefigure Voltaire's and perhaps his effect was a great.”
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“Occam was insistent upon this separation of theology and practical truth—a separation which manifestly released scientific inquiry from dogmatic control.”
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