

William of Ockham was born around 1285 in the small village of Ockham in Surrey, England, although nothing is known of his parents or his early life before he joined the Franciscan order (probably in London) at the age of fourteen. His philosophy was radical in his day and continues to provide insight into current philosophical debates.

In addition to formulating his famous methodological principle commonly known as Occam's Razor, he produced significant works on Logic, physics and theology. He is sometimes called the father of Nominalism, strongly believing that universals are merely mental concepts and abstractions which do not really exist, except in the mind. Thomas Aquinas, John Duns Scotus and Averroës, he is one of the major figures of late medieval Scholastic thought, and was at the center of the major intellectual and political controversies of the 14th Century. 1285 - 1348) was an English Franciscan friar, philosopher and theologian of the Medieval period.Īlong with St. William of Ockham (or William of Occam) (c. By Individual Philosopher > William of Ockham
