The freedom as subjective right in the William of Ockham's thought

AutorGabriel Lima Marques
Ocupação do AutorLawyer
Páginas2424-2442
2424 • XXVI World Congress of Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy


Gabriel Lima Marques1
Abstract: The discussion of freedom has long been presented as a problem for
humanitynot beingdierent inthe medievalperiod Inthe earlyfourteenth
century, the English philosopher William of Ockham, also known as Doctor
Invincibilissurprisedeveryonewhendefending forthe rsttime inthe his-
tory of legal thought the ius as an individual potestas. This feat earned him
subsequently the tribute made by authors such as Michel Villey, to regard him
as the father of subjective rights. Developing a theory based on the subject and
in particular situations, in complete contrast to the classic Aristotelian thought
and consequently Thomist, who were concerned in understanding the universal
nature of things, Ockham argued that each individual had a right given by God
and by nature to choose between yes and no, and between what was or was not
appropriate. In other words, using the Evangelical Law, as did all the philoso-
phersatthattimebutinadierentwaytheFranciscanauthorwilldefendthat
the human being has a natural subjective right, and raising the power to make
decisions, to the dignity of law, Ockham will challenge the tyrannical power,
which he said would only serve to corrupt the subjective freedom, the free will
given by God. In this sense, the scope of this paper is to present the subjective
right as a corollary of the concept of freedom introduced by William of Ockham
in his works, as well as the consequence of such fact to the legal thought.
Keywords: Freedom; Subjective Right; William of Ockham
1. Introduction
LileisknownaboutthelifeofWilliamofOckhamHoweverit
can be stated based on some works dedicated to study the medieval po-
1
Lawyer. Graduated in Law by State University of Rio de Janeiro. Master in Law by Fed-
eral University of Rio de Janeiro. Research of Brazilian Judiciary Observatory – CNJ/
Project, UFRJ group. CAPES-Fellow. E-mail: gabriel-marques@hotmail.com.
Working Group: Philosophy of Law - Important issues • 2425
litical thought, that the English philosopher born between the years 1280
and 1290, in the small village of Ockham, Surrey County, near of London
(Coleman, 2000: 170). According to Alessandro Ghisalberti (1997: 15),
therstrecordoftheauthorthatwehavenoticedatefromFebruary
1306. Such record, is a document that contains a list of Franciscan friars
minors who had been ordained sub-deacons in the church of St. Mary in
Southward, diocese of Winchester. This ordinance, according to canon
lawofthattimeallowedcandidatestothepriesthoodtoaendcourses
in philosophy and theology, what make us believe that Ockham proba-
bly has moved in the following year to Oxford, where was a Franciscan
convent with professors that taught such subjects. Furthermore because
it was there where he became baccalaureus formatus2 and received the
sacrament of order in the year 1318 (Ghisalberti, 1997: 16).
After his priestly ordination, Ockham began to devote himself to
thestudyofanacademicnatureWithaneectiveandinnovativepoten-
tial, the English theologian, for about six years, lived in transit between
OxfordandLondonInthissameperiodtheeervescenceofscholastic
discussions in the Franciscan houses, gave to him seven3 Quodlibetas,4
whose issues were associated with subjects ranging from logic to meta-
physics and theology (Spade, 1999: 07). Incidentally, in this vein, it is
important to point out also that the characteristic brilliance of his theses
was equally responsible for the nickname, Venerabilis Inceptoraributed
to him. This is because, it seems, Ockham, despite the demonstration of
its extreme intelligence and have completed all requirements to become
Magister actu regens that is master in theology he did not denitely
take a catedra, remaining thus as mere Inceptor,5 mere postulant, due
toaconictwiththethenChancellorofthe UniversityofOxfordJohn
Luerell6
2
Equivalent to bachelor degree today.
3
For more informations see: OCKHAM. W. Quodlibeta Questions: Volumes 1 and 2,
Quodlibets 1-7 (Yale Library of Medieval Philosophy Series). Trans. Alfred J. Freddoso
and Francis. E. Kelley. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1991.
4
e medieval quodlibets were works philosophical, detailed and dense, targeted to
solve contemporary intellectual issues. In other words, were essays used to resolve main-
ly philosophical and theological problems, aimed to overcoming critical placements of
other authors in certain matters (KEELE, 2007: 653).
5
Title that allowed graduates, candidates for the oce of Master, give lectures in univer-
sities.
6
Dominican. Doctor of eology. omist. Was chancellor at the University of Oxford
between the years 1317 and 1322.

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