Formally and Equivalently Imperative Acts of Will in Ockham’s Moral Thought

Abstract

The question of the connection of the virtues was a much debated theme in the Middle Ages. If someone is just, will she also be courageous1? Ockham’s contribution to this theme is found in Quaestiones variae, q. 7, titled «On the Connection of the Virtues» (Utrum virtutes sint connexae). In my paper, however, I am not going to deal with what Ockham says about the relations between the different kinds of virtues. Instead, I am interested in another topic that is also discussed in q. 7, namely Ockham’s distinction between formally imperative and equivalently imperative acts of will.