Ockham, the Sanctity of Rights, and the Canonists

This paper explores how Ockham adopted a maxim found in the medieval ius commune -- namely, that people should not be deprived of their rights without fault or cause -- and made it a cornerstone of his political philosophy. In addition, because Ockham's grasp of law is sometimes questioned, I contrast his use of the maxim with two of the greatest medieval lawyers, Hostiensis and Innocent IV. As I show, there are important differences in how they and Ockham made use of this maxim.