1301 – 1360
John Buridan (c. 1301–c. 1360) was a French scholastic philosopher and logician at the University of Paris, where he served twice as rector. A nominalist in the tradition of Ockham, he made foundational contributions to logic, natural philosophy, and the theory of mind, and is widely regarded as one of the most rigorous and influential thinkers of the fourteenth century.
Developed a sophisticated theory of concepts and mental language in his Summulae de Dialectica
Formulated the impetus theory of projectile motion, anticipating early modern mechanics
Advanced nominalist logic and the theory of supposition beyond Ockham's framework
Produced influential commentaries on nearly the whole Aristotelian corpus
Associated with the 'Buridan's ass' thought experiment illustrating rational determinism and will