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- Nominalism Nominalism, arising in the Middle Ages among certain Franciscan friars, refers to the rejections of “universals” in identifying and describing the relation between different objects in the world. Whatever relations that men observe between objects and persons does not derive from a universal category, but from a perceived relation that is formed in the mind of the observer. “The tradition that followed [William of] Ockham insisted that universals were simply names (nomina) that we apply(...)
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- Utilitarianism Utilitarianism is a philosophy that, broadly speaking, teaches that men ought to pursue whatever course of action brings the greatest good. Of course, the idea of "the good" will mean different things to different people, a fact that eventually led to criticisms and modifications in the philosophy. Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832) is considered the founder of modern utilitarianism, but John Stuart Mill (1806–1873) is commonly attached to the idea. Elizabeth Anscombe qualified the ideas(...)
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- Voluntarism Voluntarism refers to a philosophical assumption that initially arose in medieval Europe. It prioritizes will as the principal or dominant factor in the universe. The Franciscan friar, John Duns Scotus, for instance, extended his ideas about the significance of the will unto his description of God and divine action. “God could have chosen not to create, or to create a different world from this one. He could have given us different moral commandments. His laws are not rationally necessary.(...)