Scholasticism The synthesis of Aristotelian philosophy with Christian teachings.
Skepticism The belief that all beliefs can be proved false; thus, to avoid the frustration of being wrong, it is best to believe nothing.
Stoicism The belief that one should live according to nature’s plan and accept one’s fate with indifference or, in the case of extreme hardship, with courage.
Vedantism The Indian religion that emphasized the importance of semiecstatic trances.
William of Occam (sometimes spelled Ockham; ca. 1285–1349) Denied the contention of the real- ists that what we experience are but manifestations of abstract principles. Instead, he sided with the nominalists who said that so-called abstract principles, or univer- sals, were nothing more than verbal labels that we use to describe classes of experiences. For Occam, reality is what we experience directly; there is no need to assume a “higher” reality beyond our senses.