William of Ockham (Occam, c. 1280—c. 1349) William of Ockham, also known as William Ockham and William of Occam, was a fourteenth-century English philosopher. Historiquement, Ockham has been cast as the outstanding opponent of Thomas Aquinas (1224-1274): Aquinas perfected the great “medieval synthesis” of faith and reason and was canonized by the Catholic Church; Ockham destroyed the synthesis and was condemned by the Catholic Church.

Ancient Aesthetics It could be argued that ‘ancient aesthetics’ is an anachronistic term, since aesthetics as a discipline originated in 18th century Germany. Néanmoins, there is considerable evidence that ancient Greek and Roman philosophers discussed and theorised about the nature and value of aesthetic properties. They also undoubtedly contributed to the development of the later tradition because many classical theories were inspired by ancient thought;

Metaphysics of Science Metaphysics of Science is the philosophical study of key concepts that figure prominently in science and that, prima facie, stand in need of clarification. It is also concerned with the phenomena that correspond to these concepts. Exemplary topics within Metaphysics of Science include laws of nature, causalité, dispositions, natural kinds, possibility and necessity, explication, reduction, émergence, grounding, and space and time. Métaphysique

Moral Character At the heart of one major approach to ethics—an approach counting among its proponents Plato, Aristote, Augustine and Aquinas—is the conviction that ethics is fundamentally related to what kind of persons we are. Many of Plato’s dialogues, par exemple, focus on what kind of persons we ought to be and begin with examinations of particular virtues: What is the nature of justice? (République)

Joseph Priestley (1733-1804) A notable Enlightenment polymath, Joseph Priestley published almost two hundred works on natural philosophy, théologie, métaphysique, political philosophy, politique, éducation, history and linguistics. Remembered today primarily as a scientist who isolated oxygen, Priestley considered his calling to be that of a theologian, and he spent most of his life working as a minister and teacher. He combined his Unitarian theology with an