Ockham (Occam), William of (c.1280–1347)
Famous 14th century intellectual, of Ockham's Razor fame ("Entities
must not be unneccesarily multiplied"), who joined the Franciscan order
and studied at Oxford, where he was a contemporary of Jean Buridan,
and Paris. He went further than Buridan in modifying Aristotle's
doctrine of natural place by arguing that the elements in each world would
return to their natural place within their own world, without any intervention
by God. Although he began by supporting pluralism,
he later became a strong opponent of the idea, citing the view that neither
other worlds nor the creation of man elsewhere were mentioned in the Scriptures.
Related entry
• medieval philosophy,
related to the possibility of extraterrestrial life
Related
category
• PHILOSOPHY
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