Pierre Ramírez

by Rodrigo Ballon Villanueva

Pierre Ramírez

Did you know William of Ockham was buried at the Franciscan convent in Munich? While his burial site is now lost, his works continue to keep his legacy alive within his order (and beyond). This is the case with Pierre Ramírez, a Franciscan priest from Colombia who lives in Munich. We are delighted to highlight his work this month!

Pierre holds a BA in Philosophy (2015), a BA in Theology (2016), and an MA in Contemporary Philosophy (2018) from Saint Bonaventure University (Colombia). His research aims to establish a dialogue between medieval Franciscan philosophy and contemporary metaphysics and logic. He is currently a PhD student at the Munich School of Philosophy (Germany) under the supervision of Patrick Zoll. His doctoral dissertation is devoted to Ockham’s logic and semantics as situated within the framework of his ontological programme. Pierre argues that, after Ockham, logic is only possible as a formal discipline, i.e., insofar as it has undergone a ‘dereification’ process. In other words, to establish the formal conditions of logic, Ockham reduced the ontological purport of concepts, ascribing to them only a logical function.

Besides Ockham, Pierre is generally interested in Franciscan thought. For instance, he explores the philosophy and theology of Bonaventure and Duns Scotus (particularly the problem of universals), as well as the primary sources on the medieval origins of the order established by Saint Francis of Assisi. Pierre’s publications include: ‘On the Trails of Fiction (or Why Poetry is More than Poetry). Perspectives for Understanding Fictional Entities and their Ability to Solve Problems’ (Guillermo de Ockham 2021), ‘Approach to the Concept of “pathologies of the social” and its Possible Ethical Implications’ (Revista Temas 2018), etc. If you are curious about Pierre’s research, feel free to message him at pierreguillen@gmail.com