NOMINALISTS, a sect of school philosophers, the disciples and followers of Occam, or Ocham, an English cordelier, who flourished in the fourteenth century. They received the denomination of Nominalists, because, in opposition to the Realists, they maintained that general terms, and not things or images, are the objects of the mind when engaged in abstract reasonings or inquiries.

This sect had its first rise towards the end of the eleventh century, and pretended to follow Porphyry and Aristotle; but it was not till Occam’s time that they bore the name of Nominalists. The chief of this sect, in the eleventh century, was a person named John, who, on account of his logical subtilty, was called the sophist; and his principal disciples were Robert of Paris, Roscelin of Compïègne, and Arnoul of Laon. At the beginning the Nominalists had the upper hand; but the Realists, though greatly divided amongst themselves, were supported by men of eminent abilities, such as Albertus Magnus, Thomas Aquinas, and Duns Scotus. The Nominalist sect thus fell into disrepute, till Occam, in the fourteenth century, again revived it, and filled France and Germany with the flame of disputation. His followers having joined the party of the Franciscan monks, who strenuously opposed John XXII., that pope himself, and his successors after him, left no means untried to extirpate the philosophy of the Nominalists, which was deemed highly prejudicial to the interests of the church; and hence it was that, in the year 1339, the university of Paris, by a public edict, solemnly condemned and prohibited the philosophy of Occam, which was that of the Nominalists. The consequence was, that the Nominalists flourished more than ever. In the fifteenth century the controversy was continued with more vigour and animosity than before; and the disputants, not content with using merely the force of eloquence, had frequently recourse to more dangerous weapons, and battles were the consequence of a philosophical question which neither side understood. In most places, however, the Realists maintained a superiority over the Nominalists. Whilst the famous Gerson and the most eminent of his disciples were living, the Nominalists were in high esteem and credit in the university of Paris; but, upon the death of these patrons, the face of things changed much to their disadvantage. In the year 1473, Louis XI., at the instigation of his confessor, the Bishop [7:16:241]of Avranches, issued a severe edict against the doctrines of the Nominalists, and ordered all their writings to be seized and secured, that they might not be read by the people; but the same monarch mitigated this edict the year following, and permitted some of the books of that sect to be delivered from their confinement; and, in the year 1481, he not only granted a full liberty to the Nominalists and their writings, but also restored that philosophical sect to its former authority and lustre in the university.

The student of philosophy will do well to examine the researches of Brucker and the other historians of philosophy on the subject of Nominalism, and also to peruse what is to be found on the subject in the works of Mr Dugald Stewart and Dr Thomas Brown.