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Work #1176 · Mature

Treatise on Predestination, Foreknowledge, and Future Contingents

William of Ockham
c. 1321-24 · Latin
Theological-philosophical treatise · Scholasticism / Late-medieval nominalism / Franciscan tradition

Ockham's c.1321-24 treatise — divine foreknowledge and creaturely freedom; the foundational late-medieval treatment

Attribute Fingerprint

Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.

Attribute Treatise on Predestination, Foreknowledge, and Future Contingents (Mature)
Time · Extent Infinite
Time · Ontological Status Substantival
Time · Grain Continuous
Time · Freedom Non-Deterministic
Time · Traversability Linear
Time · Dimensionality One
Time · Direction Uni-directional
Space · Extent Infinite
Space · Ontological Status Substantival
Space · Curvature Flat
Space · Dimensionality Three
Space · Locality Local
Matter · Extent Infinite
Matter · Ontological Status Substantival
Matter · Conservation Conserved
Matter · Dimensionality Three
Matter · Locality Local
Observer · Time Instance Single
Observer · Space Instance Single
Observer · Knowledge Extent Partial
Observer · Knowledge Retainment Total
Observer · Physicality Embodied
Observer · Agency Active
Observer · Number Plural
Observer · Metaphysical Agency Personal
Observer · Moral Authority Reason
Observer · Theological Method
Energy · Extent Infinite
Energy · Ontological Status Substantival
Energy · Conservation Conserved
Energy · Dispersibility Irreversible
Information · Ontological Status Substantival
Information · Cosmic Conservation Conserved
Information · Personal Conservation Conserved
Information · Granularity Discrete

Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence

What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.

Time

Treatise on Predestination, Foreknowledge, and Future Contingents

The c. 1321-24 mature-Ockham period; the time-modal framework of the philosophical problem.

Space

Treatise on Predestination, Foreknowledge, and Future Contingents

The Avignon-Oxford-Franciscan philosophical-religious setting.

Matter

Treatise on Predestination, Foreknowledge, and Future Contingents

The embodied creaturely-philosophical inquirer whose freedom the treatise defends.

Observer

Treatise on Predestination, Foreknowledge, and Future Contingents

God as foreknower; the creaturely philosopher as inquirer.

Energy

Treatise on Predestination, Foreknowledge, and Future Contingents

The intellectual-religious energies of the foreknowledge-freedom problem.

Information

Treatise on Predestination, Foreknowledge, and Future Contingents

The systematic philosophical-theological content on the foreknowledge-problem.

Internal Tensions

Where each work's argument pulls against itself.

Treatise on Predestination, Foreknowledge, and Future Contingents

The Ockhamist solution remains contested — defenders see proper compatibilist philosophical achievement, critics (Thomist, Molinist, open-theist) maintain rival positions.