PHILOSOPHER

William of Ockham

1285 - 1347

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William of Ockham or Occam ( OK-əm; Latin: Gulielmus Occamus; c. 1287 – 10 April 1347) was an English Franciscan friar, scholastic philosopher, apologist, and Catholic theologian, who is believed to have been born in Ockham, a small village in Surrey. He is considered to be one of the major figures of medieval thought and was at the centre of the major intellectual and political controversies of the 14th century. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of William of Ockham has received more than 1,647,470 page views. His biography is available in 76 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 72 in 2019). William of Ockham is the 114th most popular philosopher (down from 73rd in 2019), the 135th most popular biography from United Kingdom (down from 76th in 2019) and the 9th most popular British Philosopher.

William of Ockham is most famous for his principle of parsimony, also known as Occam's Razor. This principle states that the simplest explanation is usually the best one.

Memorability Metrics

  • 1.6M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 72.93

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 76

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 10.72

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 3.43

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Among PHILOSOPHERS

Among philosophers, William of Ockham ranks 114 out of 1,267. Before him are Wilhelm von Humboldt, Rudolf Christoph Eucken, Tertullian, Gilles Deleuze, Bodhidharma, and Antisthenes. After him are Henri de Saint-Simon, Pyrrho, Johann Friedrich Herbart, Simone Weil, Chanakya, and Tommaso Campanella.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1285, William of Ockham ranks 1. After him are Ferdinand IV of Castile, Ayurbarwada Buyantu Khan, Emperor Go-Nijō, An-Nasir Muhammad, Baldwin of Luxembourg, Elisabeth of Austria, Duchess of Lorraine, Ferrer Bassa, Michael of Trebizond, Sancia of Majorca, Euphemia of Pomerania, and Marco Cornaro. Among people deceased in 1347, William of Ockham ranks 1. After him are Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor, Joan III, Countess of Burgundy, Maria of Navarre, and John XIV of Constantinople.

Others Born in 1285

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Others Deceased in 1347

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In United Kingdom

Among people born in United Kingdom, William of Ockham ranks 135 out of 8,785. Before him are Roger Moore (1927), Victoria, Princess Royal (1840), Aldous Huxley (1894), Bobby Charlton (1937), Edward VII (1841), and Henry VI of England (1421). After him are Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury (1830), George IV of the United Kingdom (1762), Roald Dahl (1916), Michael Caine (1933), William Blake (1757), and William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin (1824).

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Among PHILOSOPHERS In United Kingdom

Among philosophers born in United Kingdom, William of Ockham ranks 9. Before him are Thomas Hobbes (1588), David Hume (1711), Thomas More (1478), Herbert Spencer (1820), Jeremy Bentham (1748), and Roger Bacon (1220). After him are John Venn (1834), Joseph Priestley (1733), Duns Scotus (1265), John Wycliffe (1324), Pelagius (360), and William Godwin (1756).

British born Philosophers

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