In the XIV and XV centuries. Nominalism appears again in philosophy, but it already has a slightly different meaning than before. It is associated primarily with the struggle against the metaphysics of Aquinas and Scotus. Based on the fact that only the individual, the concrete is real, which brings philosophy closer to the empirical disciplines, Catholicism thus becomes the conductor of a new, renaissance rise in the sciences.
The most consistent representative of nominalism of this period was William of Ockham (c. 1300-1349/50). He is called the last representative of scholasticism. His attack on the foundations of scholasticism is the next and more decisive step towards modern times in comparison with Roger Bacon and Duns Scotus. William of Ockham was born in Great Britain, near London, and studied and taught at Oxford. He was also a monk of the Franciscan order.
At one time he took a rather harsh position against the Pope, because of this he spent some time in prison. When he was released from prison, it is said that he fled under cover to one of the Italian kings and, as tradition tells, he appealed to this king for help, saying the historical words: “Guard me with the sword, I will protect you with the word.” He spent the last years of his life in Italy.
Among his works are “Routine”, “Favorites” and “Code of All Logic”. William of Ockham, as a representative of philosophy and Christian scholastic thought of the 14th century, shows the decline of scholastic theology. In Occam one can see all the consequences of such knowledge of God, of an attempt to know God by rational methods.
William of Ockham almost completely denies the right of philosophy to any knowledge of God. Philosophy cannot prove anything at all, has no value for a theologian, philosophy cannot even prove the existence of God, because God is actual infinity, and man, at best, thinks of potential infinity. Therefore, in its knowledge of God, theology relies only on Scripture, and the subject of philosophy does not depend on theology.
Therefore, the truths of Scripture are unprovable, and the more obvious their unprovability, the stronger the faith in them. The truths comprehended by philosophy differ from the truths of theology. Therefore, in Ockham we again see the revival of the theory of dual truth, that the truths of philosophy and the truths of theology differ from each other due to both the objects and methods of knowledge.
William Ockham entered the history of human thought largely thanks to the so-called “Occam's razor”. Occam's Razor is a methodological principle that helps you think correctly without falling into error. This “Occam’s razor” is formulated in several different expressions: “Unnecessarily, much should not be asserted,” “What can be explained by means of less should not be expressed by means of more.” And the short formulation of “Occam’s razor”, which arose later: “Entities should not be multiplied unnecessarily.”
William Ockham formulated this principle in his struggle against various scholastic tricks, various subtle distinctions, etc., which especially became popular thanks to the works of John Duns Scotus. This departure from knowledge of the real world did not suit Ockham, and in his defense of empiricism, knowledge of the sensory world in the fight against scholasticism, Ockham formulated this principle.
In essence, this principle originates from the famous dispute between Aristotle and Plato. Aristotle objected to Plato that by introducing his ideas, he doubled the number of entities needed for explanation. Occam did the same. If we have a sensory world, then to explain it there is no need to invent any universals, ideas, forms, etc.
Therefore, there are no ideas or universals, there is only a cognizing subject and object. If universals existed, then they would be individual things, which is self-contradictory. Universals arise in the human soul as a result of intention, i.e. orientation of the subject towards the object. Therefore, the universal is nothing other than the intention of the soul. A person directs his knowledge to a certain object, and thus universals are formed.
Because of this, Occam believes that our knowledge is always singular, that we always know specific and individual objects. This knowledge becomes general only in our mind, in accordance with one or another meaning that we attach to it. Therefore, universals take on the character of this meaning, and Ockham develops the doctrine of signs, because a universal, according to Ockham, is nothing more than a sign. Some of the signs are natural, such as smoke is a sign of fire, and laughter is a sign of joy.
Other universals are conditional, artificial, just as our words are signs of things. It is not the object itself that is thought of, but its sign, its concept. There are two types of concepts: signs of things and signs of signs. A universal is a sign for many signs and things. The general has no reality. Since there are no universals anywhere, incl. and in the divine mind, then God knows them through man.
The emergence of Occam's doctrine marked the end of medieval scholastic philosophy. And although scholastic studies continued in the 15th - 16th centuries, the golden age of scholastic philosophy was already behind.
One of the outstanding representatives of nominalism was William of Ockham ($1285 – $1347) – English philosopher, scholastic, Franciscan.
Note 1
Ockham's nominalism rejects the basic idea of Medieval Scholasticism, which is based on confidence in the rational knowledge of the world, the unambiguous harmony of language with being. Previously, scholasticism placed the main emphasis of its philosophy on this: the identity of word and world. Now this identity disappears, so being not associated with the analysis of words becomes objectless. William Ockham derived a radical argument from the thesis of the unlimited Will of God.
Problems of will in Occam's philosophy
John Duns Scotus believed that the most important thing in a person is not the mind, but the will. Will provides desire. She excels. If there is no aspiration, nothing will happen. The will must choose. In her choice, she is not guided by reason. Will is a priority. God created the world, it must be accepted unconditionally. There is a truth that is not given in the mind. This is divine truth. It is given by revelation and belongs to the church. It can only be known through the church. What belongs to this world is the object of the mind. The state belongs to the world of things. It must be an object of the mind. And the church is not an object of activity of the human mind. Here knowledge is given only through revelation. If the highest truth cannot be comprehended by reason, the church withdraws itself from the activity of reason. It claims only the highest truth. If the mind cannot rise to the attainment of the final goal, then where should it stop in its cognitive activity? It is impossible to get to the root cause.
Occam's razor
William of Ockham I looked at the current situation differently. He gives his method for solving the problem. Occam proposes a technique called "Occam's razor" . It cuts through the deterministic chain of cause and effect. The number of entities should not be increased beyond what is necessary.
Necessary is the knowledge that can benefit us. We are driven by the love of benefit.
The burning issue of that period - the dispute about universals and whether they have an essence - is resolved using Occam's razor:
- Occam was critical of the world of ideas, considering them unnecessary.
- He insisted on the existence of universals only in thinking, using the law of “economy”: “perfection itself must be simple.”
Occam's position in the debate about Universals
In the $XI-XII$ centuries. a new interpretation of the problem of universals was proposed. The predecessors believed that genera and species were real. However, doubts arose regarding this provision. It is impossible for a general concept to be a predicate of any particular thing. This doubt led to the fact that the general concept began to be considered only a word (vox or nomen). This became the basis for the emergence of realists and nominalists.
Note 2
W. Ockham occupied an intermediate place between these two positions. He recognized the reality of general concepts, but believed them to exist within the subject, in the form of mental images, or concepts. Ockham introduced the structure of the soul, consisting of percepts and concepts. Percepts, in this case, were understood by him as signs that relate to individual objects, while concepts are signs, terms that denote relationships between percepts, and also relate to other similar objects.
Concepts act as derivatives of percepts. The formation of perceats into concepts, or the transformation of signs of the first kind into signs of the second kind, occurs with the help of speech. The sign occupies a central position in Occam's values. The relationship between an object and its image is symbolic in nature. Universals, in this case, are signs that are the result of thinking. He also denied the existence of universals in God.
With the emergence of William Ockham's Doctrine, the decline of medieval scholastic philosophy was marked.
English William of Ockham
English philosopher, Franciscan monk, considered one of the greatest logicians of all time
William of Ockham
short biography
William of Occam(or Ockham) (eng. William of Ockham; c. 1285, Ockham, Surrey, England - 1347, Munich, Duchy of Bavaria, Holy Roman Empire) - English philosopher, Franciscan monk from Ockham, a small village in Surrey in Southern England . A supporter of nominalism, he believed that only the individual exists, and universals exist only thanks to abstract thinking in the human mind, and besides this they do not have any metaphysical essence. Considered one of the fathers of modern epistemology and modern philosophy in general, as well as one of the greatest logicians of all time.
Ockham listened to the Franciscan scholastic Duns Scotus at Oxford, then taught theology and philosophy in Paris. He acted as an opponent of papal power, recognizing the pope as subordinate in worldly matters to the sovereigns, and in spiritual matters to the entire church, and denying the temporal power of the pope. Summoned, for publicly disseminating these opinions, to the papal court in Avignon (in 1322), he was imprisoned, but in 1328 he fled to Germany, under the patronage of Emperor Ludwig of Bavaria. Like other famous scholastics, Ockham received honorary titles from his students Doctor invincibilis(invincible), Doctor singularis(the only one), Inceptor venerabilis(a venerable candidate; since he did not achieve the academic title of theologian, but remained an “inceptor,” that is, a beginner).
Of Occam's many students and followers, the French thinkers Jean Buridan (c. 1300-1358) and Peter d'Ailly (1350-1425) became particularly famous.
Teaching
He made radical conclusions from the thesis about the free, unlimited will of the Creator.
If the will of God, according to Duns Scotus, is free only in the choice of possibilities (Ideas) that pre-exist independently of the will in Divine thinking, then, according to Ockham, the absolute freedom of the Divine will means that in the act of creation it is not bound by anything, not even ideas. Ockham denies the existence of universals in God; they do not exist in things either. The so-called ideas are nothing other than the things themselves produced by God. There are no ideas of species, only ideas of individuals, for individuals are the only reality that exists outside the mind, both Divine and human. The starting point for understanding the world is knowledge about individuals.
The individual cannot be cognized with the help of general concepts; it is an object of direct contemplation. God is characterized by intellectual intuition of ideas corresponding to individuals, and man is characterized by intuitive knowledge of individual things in sensory experience. Intuitive knowledge precedes abstract knowledge. The latter is possible not because there are “whats” in the things themselves, that is, conceptually comprehensible properties or characteristics. A really existing thing is only “it,” an indivisible unit devoid of definitions. Concepts are formed in the mind of the cognizing subject on the basis of sensory perception of things.
Universals are signs in the mind; in themselves they are singular, not general, entities. Their universality lies not in their being, but in their designating function. Universal signs are divided by Occam into natural and conditional. Natural signs are concepts (ideas, mental images) in the mind relating to individual things. Natural signs precede verbal expressions - conventional signs. A natural sign is a kind of fiction (fiction), in other words, a quality that exists in the mind and has by nature the ability to designate. Ockham distinguishes among natural signs the first and second intentions of the mind. The first intention is a concept (mental name), adapted by nature itself in order to be substituted for a thing that is not a sign. Second intentions are concepts denoting first intentions.
The logical basis for the nominalistic concept is given by Ockham in the theory of suppositions (substitutions), which explains how the use of general terms in language can be combined with the denial of the real existence of universals. Occam identifies three types of suppositions: material, personal and simple. Only with personal substitution does a term perform denoting functions, replacing (denoting) a thing, that is, something individual. With the other two, the term does not mean anything. In material substitution, a term is substituted for a term. For example, in the statement “man is a name,” the term “man” does not designate a specific person, but means the word “man,” that is, refers to itself as a term. In simple substitution, a term is substituted for a concept in the mind, not for a thing. The term “man” in the statement “man is a species” does not at all designate any general (species) essence of man that would have real existence; it replaces the specific concept of “man,” which is present only in the mind of the cognizing subject. Therefore, the use of general terms does not oblige the recognition of the reality of universal entities.
The absence of commonality in individual things excludes the real existence of relationships and any patterns, including causation. Since knowledge about the world is formed on the basis of general concepts, only probable, but not reliable knowledge about it is possible.
Occam's nominalism denies the basic premise of scholastic philosophy - the belief in the rationality of the world, the presence of a certain kind of original harmony of word and being. Existential and conceptual structures are now opposed to each other: only a single, rationally inexpressible “this” has existence, while semantic certainties fixed by general concepts have no place outside the mind. Since being is no longer connected with the semantic meaning of words, the scholastic study of being, based on the analysis of words and their meanings, becomes pointless. The emergence of Occam's doctrine marked the end of medieval scholastic philosophy (although scholastic studies continued in the 15th-16th centuries).
Memory of Occam
In the city of Munich there is a small street named after William Occam - Occamstrasse.
OK. 1285 - approx. 1350) English scholastic philosopher, logician and church-political writer, the main representative of nominalism of the 14th century. According to the famous principle of Occam's razor, concepts that are not reducible to intuitive and experimental knowledge should be removed from science. From 1328 he lived in Munich, acting as an ideologist of imperial power against the pope's claims to secular power. We know very little about the origin, as well as about the youth and beginning of scientific activity of the most prominent representative of nominalism in medieval philosophy. It is not even clear when and where the thinker was born. According to L. Baudry, he came from a small place called Ockham in Surrey, 150 kilometers southwest of London. It is now generally accepted that Occam is English. There is still no information about his social origin. However, it is precisely established that Ockham received his philosophical and theological education at the University of Oxford, which at that time was perhaps the second most important pedagogical and scientific center in Western Europe after the University of Paris. Such major scholastics as Robert Grosseteste and John Dunes Scotus taught at Oxford. Occam's stay in Oxford is documented by the testimony of Bartholomew of Pisa (d. 1390) in his Book of Confirmation, where the thinker is called the “Oxford Bachelor.” First, Ockham studied philosophy and other sciences from their official code, and then theology. About four years they were given a course of lectures on the Bible and on the “Sentences” of Peter of Lombardy, and then he prepared to receive his doctorate. Papal documents often did not indicate Occam's academic degree. Did he even have her? Thus, Occam's student Adam of England called him not a master, but a bachelor of theology. However, it was possible to discover a number of documents (in particular, related to the political process of Meister Eckhart), in which Ockham is bluntly called Master. Apparently, Ockham's incomplete title in the texts of the papal curia is explained very prosaically - by the hatred of his political opponents, who did not want to emphasize any merits of their opponent. Unfortunately, Occam's stay in Oxford is not marked by extensive documentary evidence. For example, it is not clear whether he met Duns Scotus. It is also not known who Occam's main university mentor was. At Oxford, the thinker completed work on “Comments (or Questions) on the four books of the Sentences of Peter of Lombardy (1317–1322), which open the list of his theological works. In Oxford, Ockham began writing his fundamental work “The Code of All Logic” in 1319, which was completed no earlier than the beginning of 1340 in Munich. Ockham unambiguously explains the purpose of his main logical treatise as follows: “without this science it is impossible to skillfully use either natural history, or moral theory, or any other science.” Logic also includes Occam's “Treatise on Books on the Theory of Logical Errors,” which remains in manuscript. Occam's edifice of logic, built on a nominalistic foundation, was attractive not only for the depth of its interpretation of problems, but also for the integrity of its design and the successful selection of clear examples and illustrations. At Oxford University, the Code of All Logic was in circulation until the end of the 17th century. It consisted of three parts (“on terms”, “on sentences” and “on syllogisms”), and the fifth section of the third part of the specified “Code” was called “On undecidable sentences, or On the antinomy “liar”. In 1313 or 1314, Ockham joined the Minorite Order, joining the radical movement of spiritualists, the “heresy” of which he defended, but not from the standpoint of mysticism, but out of admiration for rational knowledge. By 1323, Ockham's conflict with the Chancellor of Oxford University, John Lutterell, had intensified, accusing him of theological skepticism and heresy and reporting this to John XXII. At the end of 1324, Occam was escorted to Avignon, the then residence of the pope, where he was supposed to give explanations for Lutterell's accusations. Ockham spent almost four years in custody in a monastery prison while awaiting trial. A commission of masters consisting of six people (in addition to Lutterell, it included three Dominicans and two Augustinians) began a systematic analysis of the works of the accused. Thus, one of the commission members was confident in the justice of the accusation even before the “investigation” began. In parallel (and, apparently, in contact with the commission), the Cardinal's committee was also involved in the Occam case. On May 12, 1325, before the trial expired, the English king recalled the main witness for the prosecution, Lutterell, but failed to prevent the trial that had begun. By the end of 1325, the commission members completed the “examination” of Occam’s “Commentaries on the Sentences of Peter of Lombardy” (a copy of this work of Ockham was sent by Lutterell to the pope at the beginning of 1325). The result was disappointing for Occam. The masters paid special attention to 51 of the theses contained in the work, and 29 were recognized as clearly heretical. These included the thinker's comments on the problems of mercy and sin, knowledge of God, communion, the impeccability of Christ's behavior, the properties of deity and the Holy Trinity, and, finally, the theory of ideas, in which the commission, not without reason, sensed a skeptical and nominalistic flavor. The remaining 22 theses were classified as simply erroneous, and several as not of any significance. Among the accusations, as well as in Lutterell’s initial denunciation, there is still no indication of the doctrine of apostolic poverty shared by Occam. Ockham later wrote that he became an adherent only in the last year of his stay in Avignon. The scale of the process leads to the conclusion that it was not just a matter of political persecution of provincial minorities, but an attempt by the papacy to ideologically disarm the opposition-minded “left” Franciscans, among whose prominent theorists was Ockham. Together with Ockham, the general of the Franciscan Order, Michael of Cesena, and the famous lawyer Bonagratius also languished under papal arrest. Back in 1323, at a congress in Perugia, the Franciscans protested against the abuses of the papal police. In May 1328, Ockham, along with Michael of Cesena and Bonagratius, escaped from the papal prison under cover of darkness. They ride horses to the coast, and a galley is already waiting for them on the open sea. They strive to reach Pisa and join the army of Emperor Ludwig of Bavaria, which opposed the papal troops in Italy. On June 6, Occam and his friends were excommunicated. According to the “Chronicle” of Nicholas the Minor, Ockham and his companions arrive by sea on June 9, 1328 in Genoa, and from there they get to Pisa. On April 11, 1329, they leave Pisa, and on December 6 they go to Parma. Here, on the occasion of the religious holiday of St. Nicholas, Michael of Cesena delivered a sermon in which he called Pope John XXII a “money-grubber,” a “stupid,” and a “warmonger,” and also accused him of other deviations from the requirements of Christian morality. This speech was an eloquent response to the pope's declaration on November 16, 1329, of the doctrine of Michael of Cesena as anti-Catholic. Ockham's party soon gained many new supporters. In February 1330, Ockham moved to Germany and appeared before Ludwig of Bavaria. According to the chronicler I. Trithemius (1462–1546), Occam turned to Ludwig of Bavaria “O Emperor, protect me with the sword, and I will protect you with the word!” It is difficult to say whether these words were impromptu or the password of anti-papist intellectuals who turned to Ludwig of Bavaria with a request for political asylum. The thinker finds refuge at the Franciscan monastery in Munich, also enjoying the patronage of Ludwig’s friend, the “antipope” Peter de Corberi. Here he launches approximately twenty years of uncompromising struggle with the papal curia, decisively challenging its desire for full power. The sharp arrows of his political treatises are directed first against John XXII, then against his successor, Pope Benedict XII, and finally against Clement VI. In temporal matters he calls upon popes to submit to the sovereigns, and in spiritual matters to the council. The philosopher takes part in the work of the Franciscan cathedrals in Rens and Frankfurt (1338), and also maintains active correspondence with colleagues in the order. In 1338, Occam directly proclaimed himself and the “Minority Brothers” to be true believers; he did not consider himself or them bound by any papal decrees. He brought additional papal wrath upon himself and his friends with his eloquent and detailed defense of the king's right to tax church property in cases where it seemed necessary to the secular ruler. The list of Occam's political treatises opens with the Ninety Days' Work, apparently created in 1331. It was written in defense of Michael of Cesena against the accusations of John XXII. Ockham opens his polemical fire on the papal curia in his “Treatise on the Dogmas of Pope John XXII” (1335–1338). In it, the philosopher appears as a staunch defender of the concept of apostolic poverty. He also discusses here the question of the origin of the institution of private property. Ockham's main political treatise, the Dialogue, had been widely known since 1343. The writing of its first part dates back to 1333–1334. The thinker strongly condemns the supremacy of the pope and the hierarchical structure of the Catholic Church. According to Occam, the church of apostolic times and the Roman Catholic Church are significantly different. The first was formed from all believers in Christ. The second is limited to the framework of the Roman hierarchy. The despotic moral and spiritual dictate of the Roman Church is in clear contradiction with the Holy Scriptures. The clergy does not have the right to absolve sins; this is within the power of God alone. Only a general council can excommunicate a prince from the church. Ockham particularly opposes the church hierarchy; in principle, any clergyman cannot be superior to any other cult figure - there were no spiritual ranks in the ancient church. The real head of the church is Christ himself. No priest should perform any “secular” functions. Fundamental to Ockham’s “sociological” doctrine is the concept of “original man,” or “natural man.” It is assumed that all people are equal by nature with respect to the basic functions they perform. The thinker argues this as follows: “For from God and by nature all mortals are born free and by human right are not subject to anyone, so that they can, of their own initiative, entrust a ruler to lead them...” In 1340-1342, Ockham wrote “Eight Questions Concerning Papal Power” - one of his most significant political treatises, especially popular in the years 1380–1440 (a period referred to in church history as the “Great Schism”). In the preface to the treatise, Ockham says that he wrote it at the request of certain people, to whom he respectfully dedicates it, without, however, naming it by name. It can be assumed that these persons are Ludwig of Bavaria and someone from his entourage. On November 29, 1342, Michael of Cesena died, and Ockham actually began to be regarded by his supporters as the leader of the Franciscan order. In Munich, Occam became quite close friends with the famous Averroist Marsilius of Padua, a friend and ally of the great philosopher Jean of Gendin, who adapted Arabic-language peripatetism. At the end of 1342, Ockham completed his work on the Breviloquy, and then began his Treatise on the Jurisdiction of the Emperor in the Grounds of Marriage, apparently completed after 1343. The pamphlet “On Imperial and Papal Power,” which is extremely important for characterizing the political views of the thinker, created around 1347, currently does not cause any debate as to whether it was written by Ockham, although it has not yet been published. The title of another work by the philosopher, “Analysis of the Misconceptions of John XXII,” apparently created in 1335–1339, is eloquent. Occam's Treatise Against Benedict XII is also distinguished by its combativeness. Along with political problems, the philosopher does not stop working on logical and philosophical ones. In Munich, he created the final edition of the fundamental “Code of Logic” and finalized the theological and philosophical work. Ockham's natural philosophical views are reflected in his work “The Philosophy of Nature (or Compendium) in Physical Books,” first published in Bologna in 1494. After the death of Ludwig of Bavaria from apoplexy in 1347, Ockham, according to some undocumented data, allegedly made attempts to reconcile with the church. The exact date of Occam's death has not been established. According to researcher F.V. Kiis, the most likely date of his death is April 10, 1349. There are no reliable reports about Occam's personal life. Of course, the vow of celibacy and ascetic disdain for female society was also valid for him. However, Ockham violated so many papal orders during his life that it is difficult to guarantee whether he always firmly followed this too. In any case, he theoretically did not share the opinion of Thomas Aquinas that there is little good in marriage, and in his works we will not find anti-feminist attacks, from which the “angelic doctor” was not always free. Occam's obviously more democratic way of thinking is characterized by the persistence that he showed in promoting equal rights for women and men in the area of cult rites. On one of the main issues of medieval scholasticism - the relationship between philosophy and theology - Ockham spoke from the position of denying any connections between philosophy and theology. He, in fact, completes the separation of philosophy and theology. Philosophy, Ockham argued, cannot be the handmaiden of theology, and theology, in turn, cannot be a science. Each of them, according to Occam, has its own tasks and capabilities. Philosophy, with the help of experience, comprehends the world of natural bodies, and theology, relying on faith, turns to God. It is impossible to comprehend God with reason. In the person of Ockham, nominalism in England triumphed over realism. Reason was denied the ability to comprehend God, but the church was thereby limited in its desire to dictate to science. Ockham opposed all the main scholastic trends of his time, which cleared the way for the development of a new philosophy. This was also facilitated by the famous "Occam's razor", a principle that means that entities should not be multiplied unnecessarily. This principle was directed against the excessive dissemination of all kinds of generalizations, against scholastic speculative speculation. Occam's Razor cleared the way for the empirical development of a new natural science. Ockham is often called the last representative of scholasticism.
Excellent definition
Incomplete definition ↓
The next most recent Franciscan thinker is William of Ockham (c. 1300-1349/50). Just like the previous two philosophers, William of Ockham was born in Great Britain, near London, and studied and taught at Oxford. He was also a monk of the Franciscan order. At one time he took a rather harsh position against the Pope, because of this he spent some time in prison. When he was released from prison, it is said that he fled under cover to one of the Italian kings and, as tradition tells, he appealed to this king for help, saying the historical words: “Guard me with the sword, I will protect you with the word.” He spent the last years of his life in Italy.
Among his works are “Routine”, “Favorites” and “Code of All Logic”. William of Ockham, as a representative of philosophy and Christian scholastic thought of the 14th century, shows the decline of scholastic theology. In Occam one can see all the consequences of such knowledge of God, of an attempt to know God by rational methods. William of Ockham almost completely denies the right of philosophy to any knowledge of God. Philosophy cannot prove anything at all, has no value for a theologian, philosophy cannot even prove the existence of God, because God is actual infinity, and man, at best, thinks of potential infinity. Therefore, in its knowledge of God, theology relies only on Scripture, and the subject of philosophy does not depend on theology. Therefore, the truths of Scripture are unprovable, and the more obvious their unprovability, the stronger the faith in them. The truths comprehended by philosophy differ from the truths of theology. Therefore, in Ockham we again see the revival of the theory of dual truth, that the truths of philosophy and the truths of theology differ from each other due to both the objects and methods of knowledge.
William Ockham entered the history of human thought largely thanks to the so-called “Occam's razor”. "Occam's Razor" is a methodological principle that helps you think correctly without falling into error. This “Occam’s razor” is formulated in several different expressions: “Unnecessarily, much should not be asserted,” “What can be explained by means of less should not be expressed by means of more.” And the short formulation of “Occam’s razor”, which arose later: “Entities should not be multiplied unnecessarily.”
William Ockham formulated this principle in his struggle against various scholastic tricks, various subtle distinctions, etc., which especially became popular thanks to the works of John Duns Scotus. This departure from knowledge of the real world did not suit Ockham, and in his defense of empiricism, knowledge of the sensory world in the fight against scholasticism, Ockham formulated this principle.
In essence, this principle originates from the famous dispute between Aristotle and Plato. Aristotle objected to Plato that by introducing his ideas, he doubled the number of entities needed for explanation. Occam did the same. If we have a sensory world, then to explain it there is no need to invent any universals, ideas, forms, etc. Therefore, there are no ideas or universals, there is only a cognizing subject and object. If universals existed, then they would be individual things, which is self-contradictory. Universals arise in the human soul as a result of intention, i.e. orientation of the subject towards the object. Therefore, the universal is nothing more than the intention of the soul. A person directs his knowledge to a certain object, and thus universals are formed.
Because of this, Occam believes that our knowledge is always singular, that we always know specific and individual objects. This knowledge becomes general only in our mind, in accordance with one or another meaning that we attach to it. Therefore, universals take on the character of this meaning, and Ockham develops the doctrine of signs, because a universal, according to Ockham, is nothing more than a sign. Some of the signs are natural, such as smoke is a sign of fire, and laughter is a sign of joy. Other universals are conditional, artificial, just as our words are signs of things. It is not the object itself that is thought of, but its sign, its concept. There are two types of concepts: signs of things and signs of signs. A universal is a sign for many signs and things. The general has no reality. Since there are no universals anywhere, incl. and in the divine mind, then God knows them through man.
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