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PELLETIER, Jenny E. William of Ockham on Metaphysics. Boston: Brill, 2012. 297 pp.-Etienne Gilson, the distinguished historian of philosophy, in History of Christian Philosophy in the Middle Ages wrote, "An Ockhamist intellect is badly equipped as possible for metaphysical cognition." Jenny Pelletier strongly disagrees with Gilson's interpretation of Ockham as antimetaphysical and sets out to prove his inteipretation wrong. Among other charges, Gilson faults Ockham for denying the existence of intentional species, for dismissing the distinction between essence and existence, and for rejecting the doctrine of active and passive intellect.
Ockham (1287-1347), it must be noted at the outset, never wrote a metaphysics or even a commentary on Aristotle's Metaphysics. He did write commentaries on the Physics, on the Categories, and on the Perihermenaias. His major work, Summa Logicae dates to 1323. After that he became involved in ecclesiastical politics, and his writing became mostly political.
The focus of Pelletier's study is Ockham's theory of knowledge as drawn from his logic and natural philosophy. Her study provides an indepth analysis of his theory of intuitive and abstract cognition, his understanding of the representative nature of the concept, and its status as a transcendental. Pelletier admits that Ockham's metaphysics takes second...