Ideas from 'Prologue to Ordinatio' by William of Ockham [1320], by Theme Structure

[found in 'Ockham's Philosophical Writings' by Ockham,William of (ed/tr Boehner,P) [Hackett 1990,0-87220-078-7]].

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11. Knowledge Aims / A. Knowledge / 4. Belief / c. Aim of beliefs
Our intellect only assents to what we believe to be true
                        Full Idea: Our intellect does not assent to anything unless we believe it to be true.
                        From: William of Ockham (Prologue to Ordinatio [1320], Q 1 N sqq)
                        A reaction: This strikes me as being a much more accurate and commonsense view of belief than that of Hume, who simply views it phenomenologically. ...But then the remark appears to be circular. Belief requires a belief that it is true. Hm.
15. Nature of Minds / C. Capacities of Minds / 3. Abstraction by mind
Abstractive cognition knows universals abstracted from many singulars
                        Full Idea: Abstractive cognition (in one sense) relates to something abstracted from many singulars; and in this sense abstractive cognition is nothing else but cognition of a universal which can be abstracted from many things.
                        From: William of Ockham (Prologue to Ordinatio [1320], Q 1 N sqq)
                        A reaction: This strikes me as being correct common sense, even though it has become deeply unfashionable since Frege. We may not be able to see quite how the mind manages to see universals in a bunch of objects, but there is no better story.