Buridan, Jean (c. 1297-c. 1358)

French philosopher. A native of Artois, he studied under William Occam in Paris, France, where he later became professor of philosophy and, in 1327, rector. Under an ordinance of Louis XI against the Nominalists the reading of his works was prohibited. His philosophy is based upon the doctrines of his teacher Ockham. His ideas in connection with free will, contained in his comments on Aristotle's Ethics, bear a resemblance to those of the English philosopher John Locke.