· William of Ockham ·

According to Ockham, knowledge is the representation of the understanding of ourselves. To him the basis of knowledge is intuition, or the existence within senses.

His theory of intuitive knowledge states that there is no gap between the object and the knower. Intuitive knowledge is divided into two classifications: natural and supernatural intuitive knowledge. Ockham describes natural intuitive knowledge as a type of knowledge in which an object exists, the knower judges that it exists, and what gives you the knowledge is the object itself. By supernatural intuitive knowledge, Ockham refers to the knowledge in which an object doesn’t exist, the knower judges that it doesn’t exist, and what gives you the knowledge is God. There is a contradiction in this theory of intuitive knowledge because we are unable to distinguish between the two kinds of knowledge.

By basing himself on Aristotle, who said: “Nature works in the shortest way”, Ockham created his theory called Ockham’s Razor. This theory states that by choosing the simplest theory, one chooses the most accurate one. This is because the excess, or the unnecessary assumptions from an argument are removed.

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Disclaimer: this blog post is part of a school assignment, it is not intended to be a reliable source of information for research.