1275 – 1344
Walter Burley (c. 1275–c. 1344) was an English scholastic philosopher and logician who studied and taught at Oxford and Paris. A realist in the debate over universals, he opposed Ockham's nominalism and defended a robust metaphysical realism about properties and forms. He was prolific across logic, natural philosophy, and commentaries on Aristotle.
Defended realism about universals against Ockham's nominalism in De Puritate Artis Logicae
Produced influential commentaries on Aristotle's logic, physics, and ethics
Developed a theory of 'real propositions' as mind-independent entities
Contributed to the analysis of genus and species in the Porphyrian tradition
Authored De Vita et Moribus Philosophorum, a widely circulated compendium of philosopher biographies