Changes

=== Dialogue (c. 1334-46) ===

=== Dialogue (c. 1334-46) ===

The book pretends to be a transcript made by a mature student of lengthy discussions between himself and a university master about the various opinions of the learned on the matters disputed between John XXII and the dissident Franciscans. The student is the initiator; he chooses the topics, asks the questions and decides when he has heard enough. The master is, so to speak, an expert witness whom the student examines.  

The book is presented as a record of discussions between a student and a university master about opinions on the dispute between Pope John XXII and the dissident Franciscans. The gist of the work is that a pope's orthodoxy is as much open to scrutiny as that of any ordinary Christian, and a pope is not entitled to use the power of his office to evade such scrutiny.

All this implies--and Ockham repeatedly underscores the point--that a pope's orthodoxy is as much open to scrutiny as that of any ordinary Christian, and a pope is not entitled to use the power of his office to evade such scrutiny.

Part 1 of the Dialogue is long, and is the only part that seems to be complete. Part 2 does not really belong to the work at all.  Part 3 is divided into two "tracts". Ockham had planned to compose as many as six additional "tracts" in this Part, but none are extant.  

Part 1 of the Dialogue is clearly Ockham’s master political work, both in terms of quantity and dialectical quality. It is of enormous length (exceeding the Work of Ninety Days by a considerable margin), and is the only segment of the Dialogue he seems to have completed in its entirety. It was more popular in the late Middle Ages than Part 3, and it is here that Ockham’s fundamental message of constitutional responsibility, as well as his sense of active inclusive citizenship, were most forcibly conveyed to his readers.

The Dialogue is not as well known as the 'academic' works but, according to Kilcullen, they deserves a place "beside Marsilius's Defensor Pacis, Hooker's Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity, Hobbes's Leviathan and Locke's Two Treatises, among the classics of political thought.<ref>[http://www.britac.ac.uk/pubs/dialogus/wock.html]</ref>"

 

Part 2 of the Dialogue (which we refer to as "2 Dial.) as we have it does not really belong to this work at all. It is not in dialogue form. It seems to be two short "assertive" works which someone (probably not Ockham) has inserted in place of a Part 2 that was either never written or lost. Its purpose is to show that John XXII held heretical doctrines concerning the Beatific Vision, attempted to impose them, and was therefore pertinacious and a heretic. This new issue had arisen in late 1331 and early 1332, as the result of some sermons where John had questioned the traditional view on this matter.

 

Part 3 is divided into two "tracts". Ockham had in fact planned to compose as many as six additional "tracts" in this Part, outlining the deeds of all major participants in the conflict, himself included. None of these have yet come to light, if they were ever written. Tract 1 (On the power of the pope and clergy, which which we refer to as "3.1 Dial.") is about the rights of the pope and clergy, tract 2 (On the power and rights of the Roman empire, which we refer to as "3.2 Dial.") is about the rights of the Roman Emperor.

 

According to Kilcullen "Ockham's Dialogue deserves a place beside Marsilius's Defensor Pacis, Hooker's Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity, Hobbes's Leviathan and Locke's Two Treatises, among the classics of political thought."

 

edited by John Kilcullen, George Knysh, Volker Leppin, John Scott and Jan Ballweg, under the auspices of the Medieval Texts Editorial Committee of the British Academy here http://www.britac.ac.uk/pubS/dialogus/ockdial.html

=== Letter to the Friars Minor (1334) ===

=== Letter to the Friars Minor (1334) ===