Structural Factors

Shared Core Claims

Nominalism denies that universals are independently existing things. General terms and concepts classify individuals; ontological economy resists multiplying entities; mental language and supposition theory explain how signs, concepts, and spoken or written terms refer; Ockham's razor names the associated discipline of parsimony.

Shared Methods

Scholastic logic, semantic analysis, theory of terms, disputation over universals, manuscript and text comparison, commentary, argument from parsimony, and careful separation of linguistic, conceptual, and ontological claims.

Shared Lineage

The school is framed by the medieval universals debate, Porphyry and Boethius as background, William of Ockham as the linked philosopher, late scholastic via moderna context, and later nominalist and anti-realist metaphysics.

Shared Problems

Universals, particulars, general terms, concepts, abstraction, realism, conceptualism, nominalism, supposition, mental language, predication, ontology, parsimony, individuation, and the status of shared natures.

Shared Vocabulary

nominalism, universals, particulars, terms, concepts, supposition, mental language, abstraction, realism, conceptualism, razor, parsimony, ontology, Summa logicae, via moderna.

Shared Historical Context

Nominalism develops inside medieval scholastic disputes over universals and language, becomes closely associated with Ockham and late medieval logic, and later informs anti-realist and sparse-ontology debates in metaphysics.

Defining Axes

Doctrine

Universals do not exist as independent common things; individuals are basic; generality is handled by terms, concepts, signs, and semantic roles rather than extra universal entities.

Method

Scholastic semantic analysis, theory of terms, supposition theory, logical disputation, manuscript/text comparison, and parsimony-driven metaphysical argument.

Lineage

Porphyry and Boethius form inherited universals-question context; William of Ockham is the linked philosopher; via moderna and later anti-realist metaphysics are reception contexts.

Subject Focus

Metaphysics, logic, philosophy of language, epistemology, medieval philosophy, semantics, ontology, and philosophy of philosophy.

Geography / Culture

Medieval Latin scholastic culture, especially university and mendicant intellectual settings, with later European and analytic metaphysical reception.

Historical Reaction

A reaction against robust realist accounts of universals and against ontological multiplication where semantic, conceptual, or logical explanation is sufficient.

Internal Structure

Foundational Texts

Foundational evidence includes Ockham entries, universals references, Summa logicae catalog rows, Logic Museum text context, OPenn manuscript context, and bibliographic surfaces for Ockham and Nominalism.

Core Vocabulary

nominalism, universals, particulars, terms, concepts, supposition, mental language, abstraction, realism, conceptualism, Ockham's razor, parsimony, ontology, Summa logicae.

Metaphysics

Centers sparse ontology, individuals, anti-realist handling of universals, and careful resistance to treating general terms as evidence for independently existing common natures.

Epistemology

Uses concepts, signs, abstraction, and mental language to explain how knowledge and classification can operate without committing to separately existing universals.

Ethics

Ethics is not the main axis of the school page; the relevant ethical and theological implications remain contextual to Ockham's broader scholastic work rather than the defining school logic.

School Method

Moves through term analysis, supposition theory, logical division, textual comparison, scholastic disputation, and parsimony tests for whether a proposed entity is needed.

Internal Debates

Debates include whether nominalism collapses into conceptualism, how mental language should be understood, what kind of abstraction is allowed, how terms supposit, and how far parsimony should govern ontology.

Successors

Feeds late scholastic via moderna, early modern debates over abstraction and language, and later metaphysical anti-realism, trope theory, sparse ontology, and debates over universals.

External Classification Context

History of Philosophy

Belongs to medieval Latin philosophy and the problem of universals, with links to Porphyry, Boethius, scholastic logic, Ockham, late medieval theology, and later metaphysical classification.

Philosophy of Philosophy

Shows philosophy as disciplined economy in ontology and language: first test what terms, concepts, and logical roles can explain before positing additional entities.

Intellectual History

Connects encyclopedia entries, text repositories, manuscript catalogs, library catalogs, and scholarly bibliography surfaces for Ockham, Summa logicae, nominalism, and the medieval universals debate.

University Classification

Classify under Nominalism, medieval philosophy, metaphysics, logic, philosophy of language, epistemology, scholasticism, and history of the problem of universals.

Classical Sources

Evidence includes SEP Ockham, SEP Nominalism in Metaphysics, SEP Medieval Problem of Universals, IEP Ockham, IEP Universals, IEP Simplicity, Britannica Ockham, Britannica Nominalism, Britannica Problem of Universals, New Advent, Wikisource, Open Library, WorldCat, PhilPapers, Internet Archive, Logic Museum, OPenn, and Routledge rows.

Sociology of Knowledge

The school is documented through scholastic textual transmission, manuscript witnesses, public text repositories, encyclopedia entries, library catalogs, bibliographic indexes, and modern academic interpretations of nominalism and universals.

Linked Philosophers

William of Ockham

1287 CE – 1347 CE

Ockham, Surrey

English Franciscan scholastic whose nominalism, terminist logic, mental-language theory, political theology, and parsimony arguments reshaped late medieval philosophy.

Other Voices

Source entries, public text surfaces, catalog rows, manuscript context, and scholarship connected to Nominalism, William of Ockham, universals, particulars, supposition theory, mental language, Ockham’s razor, parsimony, and Summa logicae.