Which philosophical stance did William of Ockham argue in relation to ideas?

William of Ockham's philosophical stance emphasizes the importance of ideas in the process of thinking and understanding. He is well-known for advocating a form of nominalism, which asserts that universals or abstract concepts do not have an independent existence outside of the particular instances we perceive. In this light, he argued that while ideas are formed based on sensory experiences, they are fundamental to our cognitive processes. This means that ideas play a critical role in how we think, analyze, and engage with the world around us.

Ockham recognized that our understanding of reality is mediated through the concepts we form, which shows that ideas are pivotal in shaping our thoughts and reasoning. This perspective implies that without these ideas, our capacity for thinking and comprehension would be severely limited, which aligns with the understanding that the existence of ideas is indeed fundamental to thinking.