William of Heytesbury

William Heytesbury^[1] (ca. 1313 – 1372/1373), philosopher and logician, is best known as one of the Oxford Calculators of Merton College, where he was a fellow by 1330. In his work he applied logical techniques to the problems of divisibility, the continuum, and kinematics. His magnum opus was the Regulae solvendi sophismata (Rules for Solving Sophisms), written c. 1335.

He was Chancellor of the University of Oxford from 1371 until 1372.

Works

• 1335 - Regulae solvendi sophismata (Rules for Solving Sophisms)
  • 1. On insoluble sentences
  • 2. On knowing and doubting
  • 3. On relative terms
  • 4. On beginning and ceasing
  • 5. On maxima and minima
  • 6. On the three categories
• 1483 - De probationibus conclusionum tractatus regularum solvendi sophismata -, Pavia 1483
• De tribus praedicamentis
• De probationibus conclusionum tractatus regularum solvendi sophismata (On the Proofs of Conclusions from the Treatise of Rules for Resolving Syllogisms)
• Liber Calculationum

Further reading

• Sylla, Edith (1982) "The Oxford Calculators", in Norman Kretzmann, Anthony Kenny & Pinborg (edd.), The Cambridge History of Later Medieval Philosophy
• Murdoch, John (1982) "Infinity and Continuity", in Kretzmann, Kenny & Pinborg (edd.), The Cambridge History of Later Medieval Philosophy

References

• William Heytesbury entry by John Longeway in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Notes

1. ^ Known as Gugliemus Hentisberus or Tisberus.