Walter Chatton (c. 1290-1343) was an English Franciscan philosopher and theologian who made significant contributions to the debates in Oxford during the 14th century. Chatton was born in the village of Chatton in Northumberland, England, and studied at Oxford University, where he eventually became a Fellow of Merton College. He is best known for his work on the problem of universals, which was one of the central issues in medieval philosophy.
Chatton was a member of the Franciscan Order, which was known for its commitment to poverty and its emphasis on preaching and teaching. He was deeply influenced by the works of his Franciscan predecessors, such as Bonaventure and John Duns Scotus, as well as by the writings of Aristotle and Avicenna. Chatton was known for his ability to synthesize these diverse sources of thought and to develop his own original positions on philosophical and theological issues.
One of Chatton’s main contributions to medieval philosophy was his work on the problem of universals, which concerned the nature of general terms such as “man” or “tree.” This problem had been debated by philosophers for centuries, and there were several competing theories about the relationship between these terms and the individual objects they referred to. One of the most influential theories was the nominalist view, which held that general terms were merely names that we gave to groups of similar objects, rather than real entities in themselves.
Chatton rejected this nominalist view and argued for a more moderate position known as “moderate realism.” According to Chatton, general terms referred to real entities that he called “common natures,” which were distinct from individual objects but still existed in the world. These common natures were not separate substances or entities, but were rather aspects or features of individual objects that allowed us to classify them under general terms.
Chatton’s moderate realism was influential in later medieval philosophy, and it helped to pave the way for the more sophisticated theories of universals developed by later thinkers such as John Buridan and William of Ockham. Chatton’s work also had implications for theology, as it allowed for a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between God and the created world.
Another important area of Chatton’s work was his defense of the doctrine of divine foreknowledge and human freedom. This was a contentious issue in medieval theology, as some theologians believed that if God knows everything that will happen in the future, then human beings cannot have genuine free will. Chatton argued that God’s knowledge of future events did not necessitate those events or limit human freedom. Instead, he held that God’s knowledge was causally neutral, and that it did not determine what would happen in the future.
Chatton’s views on divine foreknowledge and human freedom were influenced by his Franciscan background and his commitment to the idea of human autonomy. He believed that human beings had the ability to make free choices, even in the face of God’s foreknowledge, and that this was essential for a proper understanding of morality and ethics.
In addition to his work on universals and divine foreknowledge, Chatton also made significant contributions to the fields of metaphysics and epistemology. He was interested in the nature of causation and argued that causal relations were not necessary relations, but rather contingent ones that depended on God’s will. He also developed a theory of knowledge based on the idea of “intuitive cognition,” which held that we can have immediate knowledge of certain truths without the need for inference or argumentation.
Chatton’s philosophy was highly influential in his own time and in the centuries that followed. He was admired by his contemporaries for his intellectual rigor and his ability to engage in debates on complex philosophical and theological issues.