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Single Idea 9091

[filed under theme 11. Knowledge Aims / A. Knowledge / 1. Knowledge ]

Full Idea

Sometimes 'knowledge' means evident cognition of the conclusion alone, sometimes of the demonstration as a whole.

Gist of Idea

Sometimes 'knowledge' just concerns the conclusion, sometimes the whole demonstration

Source

William of Ockham (Expositio super viii libros [1340], Prologue)

Book Ref

Ockham,William of: 'Ockham's Philosophical Writings', ed/tr. Boehner,P [Hackett 1990], p.5


A Reaction

'Demonstration' will be something like Greek 'logos' - full understanding, ability to explain and give reasons. William is certainly right about normal usage. I know the answer in a quiz, without any requirement for justifications.


The 36 ideas from William of Ockham

Knowledge is certain cognition of something that is true [William of Ockham]
Knowledge is a quality existing subjectively in the soul [William of Ockham]
Sometimes 'knowledge' just concerns the conclusion, sometimes the whole demonstration [William of Ockham]
If parts change, the whole changes [William of Ockham]
A universal is not a real feature of objects, but only a thought-object in the mind [William of Ockham]
A universal is the result of abstraction, which is only a kind of mental picturing [William of Ockham]
Our words and concepts don't always correspond to what is out there [William of Ockham]
Abstractive cognition knows universals abstracted from many singulars [William of Ockham]
Our intellect only assents to what we believe to be true [William of Ockham]
God is not wise, but more-than-wise; God is not good, but more-than-good [William of Ockham]
We could never form a concept of God's wisdom if we couldn't abstract it from creatures [William of Ockham]
There are no secure foundations to prove the separate existence of mind, in reason or experience [William of Ockham]
If an animal approached from a distance, we might abstract 'animal' from one instance [William of Ockham]
To love God means to love whatever God wills to be loved [William of Ockham]
Hot water naturally cools down, which is due to the substantial form of the water [William of Ockham]
Cut wood doesn't make a new substance, but seems to make separate subjects [William of Ockham]
Relations are expressed either as absolute facts, or by a relational concept [William of Ockham]
Ockham says matter must be extended, so we don't need Quantity [William of Ockham, by Pasnau]
Ockham was an anti-realist about the categories [William of Ockham, by Pasnau]
Matter gets its quantity from condensation and rarefaction, which is just local motion [William of Ockham]
Universals are single things, and only universal in what they signify [William of Ockham]
Ockham had an early axiomatic account of truth [William of Ockham, by Halbach]
Some concepts for propositions exist only in the mind, and in no language [William of Ockham]
The word 'every' only signifies when added to a term such as 'man', referring to all men [William of Ockham]
Just as unity is not a property of a single thing, so numbers are not properties of many things [William of Ockham]
A proposition is true if its subject and predicate stand for the same thing [William of Ockham]
The words 'thing' and 'to be' assert the same idea, as a noun and as a verb [William of Ockham]
If essence and existence were two things, one could exist without the other, which is impossible [William of Ockham]
From an impossibility anything follows [William of Ockham]
Every extended material substance is composed of parts distant from one another [William of Ockham]
Why use more things when fewer will do? [William of Ockham]
Do not multiply entities beyond necessity [William of Ockham]
Species and genera are individual concepts which naturally signify many individuals [William of Ockham]
Even an angel must have some location [William of Ockham, by Pasnau]
William of Ockham is the main spokesman for God's commands being the source of morality [William of Ockham]
The past has ceased to exist, and the future does not yet exist, so time does not exist [William of Ockham]