"Et ita fuit triplex tempus". Ockham, Legal Historian
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54103/2035-7362/31821Keywords:
Natural law, Natural reason, Dialogus, Opus Nonaginta Dierum, State of innocence, triplex tempusAbstract
The three modes in which William of Ockham defines natural law in the ‘Dialogus’ correspond largely to what he wrote in The ‘Opus Nonaginta dierum’. In his first political work he distinguishes three different time periods during which mankind has regulated its legal relationship with economic goods. Whereas, by writing the ‘Dialogus’, William manages to provide a threefold distinction on natural law, the meaning of which has been the subject of several discussions among the scholars. The aim of this article is to provide a new proposal on Ockham’s distinction, analyzing the natural law both as a timelessness notion and – in the meanwhile – as a notion of historical significance as well as in the “triplex tempus” about which in the ‘Opus’. An attempt will be made to show the reason why the three modes described in the ‘Dialogus’ do not appear to require any review.
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