Title
Nominalism and Semantics in Abelard and Ockham
Abstract
Peter Abelard and William of Ockham represent the two main figures of the nominalism of the Middle Ages. Both share the fundamental thesis of that doctrine, according to which only individual entities exist. The repercussions of nominalism are quite evident in relation to the question of universals, which constitutes a subject that, until now, won the attention of the majority of contemporary studies on the two most important logicians of their time. Nevertheless the nominalism of each of these two protagonists apparently diverges in a significant manner, especially in respect to the role exercised by the mind in the semantic process. Ockham seems to distance himself definitely from his predecessors, including Abelard, when he transfers grammar and semantic functions of conventional language to the level of mental language. In the present article, the chief intention is to expound the theory of sign and signification of each of the authors under consideration. The ultimate objective is to compare their respective semantic positions and indicate the principal points of agreement and disagreement, keeping in mind the hypothesis according to which these two medieval nominalists should have more theoretical elements in common than not.
Year
DOI
Venue
2015
10.1007/s11787-015-0122-z
Logica Universalis
Keywords
Field
DocType
01A35, 03A05, 03B05, 03B65, Abelard, Ockham, semantics, signification, mind
Problem of universals,Element (category theory),Reflexive pronoun,Algorithm,Middle Ages,Grammar,Philosophy,Epistemology,Nominalism,Linguistics,Semantics,Doctrine
Journal
Volume
Issue
ISSN
9
2
1661-8300
Citations 
PageRank 
References 
0
0.34
0
Authors
2
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Guy Hamelin100.68
Danilo Luiz Silva Maia200.34