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Friday, March 4, 2016

Great Ideas of Philosophy III -- Occam's Razor

What is Occam's Razor?

The empiricists' version might be stated thus, "The simplest explanation which fits all the facts is the most likely to be true."

This implies that either oversimplification or overcomplication depart from the truth.  The formulation is also sometimes called the Law of  Parsimony.

Of course, William of Ockham, a monastic logician/philosopher who has been credited with the Razor, included both scripture and the church as facts that should be taken into account.

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