Introduction William of Ockham and Walter Burley
By Michaela Rodgers
This single codex, sourced by Dr. Ralph Tyler Flewelling and gifted by the Mudd family to the James Harmon Hoose Library of Philosophy in 1929, contains work by two Franciscan scholars. [1] The first is by William of Ockham (1287-1347), titled Scriptum aureum inceptoris Willielmi Occham supra praedicabilia et praedicamenta Aristotelis. This title suggests that this first tract may contain parts of two different writings of Ockham, the latter occasionally referred to as his “Predicaments.” [2] The second has been identified as a work by Walter Burley/Burleigh (Galterus Burlaeus, 1275-1344) called De puritate artis logicae. Although Burley’s work is preserved in several manuscripts, each of these manuscripts holds only a portion of the full work. [3] The manuscript held in the Hoose Library of Philosophy Mudd and Flewelling Collection holds what has been determined to be the beginning portion of De Puritate. [4] It remains likely that this is the only manuscript material of the first portion of De puritate artis logicae, though the catalogue record for another composite manuscript lists having “Part 1 only” of the same work. [5] That composite manuscript, however, was written in Italy in the second half of the 14th Century, so it is possible this manuscript predates the aforementioned Bodleian MS Lyell 79. [6]
The manuscript in the Hoose Library of Philosophy Collection is therefore either a multi-text manuscript, a “miscellany,” or a “composite manuscript.” The distinction hinges on whether the two texts were written at the same time, to be bound in the same codex (or “book”), the leaves were bound clean for the owner to fill with their miscellany (least likely), or the two texts were written separately for separate purposes and later bound together.
William of Ockham (1287- 1347)
William of Ockham was an English scholar and one of the three most prominent philosophical figures of the High Middle Ages, perhaps most famously known for his maxim, “Ockham’s Razor.” [7] William of Ockham is also well-known for his disagreements with the Pope and the Bishop of Paris, who condemned 51 of Ockham’s statements by 1326. [8] He carried out his formative education with the Franciscan Order, probably at either Oxford or with the London Greyfriars. [9]
The Franciscan Order is a group of Catholics who follow the teachings of St. Francis de Assisi; most importantly in the High Middle Ages, they follow what is known as the Franciscan Rule (of poverty). [10] This rule dictates that the friars live a life of poverty in the image of Christ. The London Greyfriars in particular profited from the flow of students and officials moving between Oxford and Paris, though the students at Oxford would have gained similar benefits. [11] However, by the early Fourteenth Century, there was already significant debate within the Order about the poverty rule and how to best express it. [12] This debate ultimately resulted in a full split when Pope John XXII entered the debate by calling William of Ockham and other Franciscans to Avignon on charges of heresy. [13] Pope John XXII in general rejected the Franciscan view of poverty, leading the Franciscan “Minister General” to ask William of Ockham to study the Franciscan and Papal views. William of Ockham ultimately determined that Pope John XXII was not only wrong, but also was himself a heretic by refusing to admit his mistake. [14]
Ockham is therefore a fascinating figure to study because he played a key role in one of the largest controversies in the early fourteenth century. This controversy even, in part, led to an “antipope” being established back in Rome, Pope Nicholas V, when Pope John XXII excommunicated the future Louis IV, King of Germany. [15] Louis’ court in Italy readily accepted William of Ockham and his compatriots when they had to flee Avignon from Pope John XXII on stolen horses. [16] Ockham spent the rest of his days in and around Munich. [17] “[...] An unusually eventful life for a philosopher” indeed. [18]
Walter Burley (Galterus Burlaeus, 1275-1344)
Walter of Burleigh was an English philosopher who taught philosophy at Oxford and theology in Paris. [19] Burley was born in modern-day Leeds and studied at Oxford, where he became a Master of Arts and a fellow of Merton College. [20] From there, Burley went to study theology at Paris, where he continued his interest in logic and in natural philosophy for which he is best known. [21] Interestingly, many of his writings which survive reject William of Ockham’s theories of logic, his theory of quantity, and his interpretation of Aristotelian categories. [22] In a work of Ockham’s not represented in this codex (called Summa logicae), Ockham actually refutes an early version of what scholars now know as Burley’s De puritate artis logicae. [23]
Although a far less controversial figure than Ockham, Burley nevertheless traveled in many of the same circles at the same time as Ockham. Burley was in Paris teaching at the Sorbonne when Ockham would have traveled through Paris on his way to Avignon. [24] Furthermore, Burley’s diplomatic career took him to Avignon, the papal curia there, Germany, Italy, and back to England. [25] Though it is clear that Burley and Ockham were contemporaries and familiar with one another’s work, it is nearly impossible to establish whether they had met in person. Nevertheless, their rich intellectual and philosophical discourse is still studied today, which is what makes this codex of particular scholarly value.
Endnotes
[1] Nethery, 161-162.
[2] Brampton, 472. Spade, “Introduction” pp 8, notes that one of Ockham’s philosophical works is titled, “Exposito in librum Praedicamentorum Aristotelis;” while another of his philosophical works is titled “exposito in libros artis logicae, prooemium et exposito in librum porphyrii de praedicabilibus.” These may be the two works referred to, certainly the former seems likely. Fortunately, each of these works is firmly attributed to William of Ockham.
[3] Boehner, 85.
[4] Boehner, 85-86. Please note that Boehner refers to USC as the “University of Los Angeles” and to the manuscript as the “Los Angeles Manuscript.” USC is the only university in Los Angeles at the time Boehner writes to hold this manuscript or any manuscript which contains this work.
[5] De la Mare, 240-241.
[6] De la Mare, 240.
[7] Spade, “William of Ockham.” Ockham’s Razor is a maxim on simplicity in methodology, often translated as “Don’t multiply entities beyond necessity.”
[8] Putallaz, 99. Condemnation, of course, is a result of not merely a scholastic error, but also political factors, such as in the case with Ockham.
[9] Courtenay, 18.
[10] Șenocak, 4-6.
[11] Courtenay, 18.
[12] Senoack, 6.
[13] Spade, “William of Ockham.”
[14] Spade, “William of Ockham.”
[15] “Louis (IV) the Bavarian (?1283 - 1347).”
[16] Kaye, “Life and Works.”
[17] Courtenay, 26.
[18] Spade, “William of Ockham.”
[19] Wood.
[20] Gensler, “Biographical Information.”
[21] Gensler, “Biographical Information.”
[22] Wood.
[23] Wood.
[24] Gensler “Biographical Information;” Courtenay 24.
[25] Gensler “Biographical Information.”
Work Cited
Boehner, Philotheus. Medieval Logic: An Outline of its Development from 1250 to c. 1400.
University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1952.
Brampton, C. K. “The Probably Order of Ockham’s Non-Polemical Works.” Traditio, vol. 19,
1963, pp. 469–483. JSTOR.
Courtenay, William J. “The Academic and Intellectual Worlds of Ockham.” The Cambridge
Companion to Ockham, edited by Paul Vincent Spade, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1999, pp. 17–30. Cambridge Companions
to Philosophy.
De la Mare, Albinia. Catalogue of the Collection of Medieval Manuscripts Bequeathed to the
Bodleian Library, Oxford by James P.r. Lyell. Oxford: Clarendon P, 1971. Print.
Friedrich, Michael and Cosima Schwarke. "Introduction – Manuscripts as Evolving
Entities" One-Volume Libraries: Composite and Multiple-Text Manuscripts. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 2016. 1-26. Web.
Gensler M. (2011) Walter Burley. In: Lagerlund H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Medieval Philosophy.
Springer, Dordrecht.
Kaye, Sharon. “William of Ockham (Occam, c. 1280- c. 1349).” Internet Encyclopedia of
Philosophy. Accessed 8 August 2019.
Lohr, Charles H. “Medieval Latin Aristotle Commentaries: Authors G-I. Traditio, vol. 24, 1968,
pp. 149–245. JSTOR.
"Louis (IV) the Bavarian (?1283 - 1347)." The Macmillan Encyclopedia, Market House Books
Ltd, 2nd edition, 2003. Credo Reference.
Nethery, Wallace., and Flewelling, Ralph Tyler. Dr. Flewelling & the Hoose Library : Life and
Letters of a Man and an Institution . University of Southern California Press, 1976.
Putallaz, François-Xavier. “Censorship.” The Cambridge History of Medieval Philosophy, by
Robert Pasnau, vol. 1, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2009, pp. 99–113.
Șenocak, Neslihan. The Poor and the Perfect the Rise of Learning in the Franciscan Order, 1209-
1310. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2012. Print.
Spade, Paul Vincent. “Introduction.” The Cambridge Companion to Ockham, edited by Paul
Vincent Spade, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1999, pp. 1–16. Cambridge
Companions to Philosophy.
Spade, Paul Vincent and Panaccio, Claude, "William of Ockham", The Stanford Encyclopedia of
Philosophy (Spring 2019 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.).
Wood, Rega. "Burley, Walter (c.1275–c.1344)," Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy, edited by
Robert Audi, Cambridge University Press, 3rd edition, 2015. Credo Reference.
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