Posted by G on October 17, 2000 at 06:02:48:
William of Ockham: On the Cutting Edge of Theory
by Charles T. Clark
William of Ockham, a 13th-century English monk, is mainly remembered as the author of "Ockham's Razor," or the Law of Parsimony (simplicity): "Entities are not to be multiplied beyond necessity"--meaning that when two theories compete, the simplest explanation is most often the correct one. While this simplicity principle for building theories remains a cornerstone of the modern scientific method, Ockham should be remembered also as a man of moral courage, willing to challenge anyone he believed to be wrong--even the pope.
The clash between Ockham and Pope John XXII began when Ockham was called to Avignon, France, then the papal seat, to answer charges of teaching heretical views while lecturing at Oxford University. During his stay at Avignon, Ockham studied the writings of Pope John and found the pope's views on religious poverty inconsistent with the Bible and prior teachings of the Church. Deciding that the best defense was a good offense, Ockham counter-charged the pope with heresy.
In his A Letter to the Friars Minor, Ockham explained that he had been commanded by his superior, Michael of Cesena, to examine three writings of Pope John. Ockham wrote of his findings: "I found a great many things that were heretical, erroneous, silly, ridiculous, … defamatory, contrary, and … plainly adverse."
The pope promptly banished Ockham from the Church. Barred as well from academic pursuits, Ockham became a working philosopher. With his passion for logic, he insisted on strictly rational divisions, such as that between the necessary and the incidental, and between evidence and degrees of probability. Ockham applied his razor of logic uncompromisingly, cutting down many theories invented by the academic philosophers of his time to explain reality.