William of ockham wiki1/7/2024 ![]() ![]() ![]() But this is just theory and Occam's Razor is much too dull. Theory places no limit: any and all possibilities in unlimited number of combinations of "natural" laws, each sheaf appropriate to its own universe. Nobody knows how many universes there are.Marilyn Frye, The Politics of Reality: Essays in Feminist Theory (1983), p.A usable universe is an intelligible universe is a simple universe.Īnd so it goes with the philosophy and the science of The Arrogant Eye. If the world exists for man, it must be usably intelligible, which means it must be simple enough for him to understand. So he must believe that he can, at least in principle, understand everything. But you can’t put things to use if you don’t know how they work. If someone believes that the world is made for him to have dominion over and he is made to exploit it, he must believe that he and the world are so made that he can, at least in principle, achieve and maintain dominion over everything. (Theories are simplest which postulate the fewest entities, require the fewest hypotheses, generate predictions by the fewest calculations, etc.). Western philosophy and science have for the most part been committed to the Simplicity Theory of Truth: the simplest theory that accounts for the data is the true theory. Men see with arrogant eyes which organize everything seen with reference to themselves and their own interests. (Cambridge University Press, London: 1949), p. Albert Einstein, "Autobiographical Notes" in Albert Einstein: Philosopher-Scientist', P.A theory is the more impressive the greater the simplicity of its premises is, the more different kinds of things it relates, and the more extended its area of applicability.While Occam's razor is a useful tool in the physical sciences, it can be a very dangerous implement in biology. What is found in biology is mechanisms, mechanisms built with chemical components and that are often modified by other, later, mechanisms added to the earlier ones. ![]() His principle states that among competing hypotheses, the one with the fewest assumptions should be selected. 1287–1347), who was an English Franciscan friar, scholastic philosopher, and theologian. Occam's razor (also Ockham's razor Latin: lex parsimoniae " law of parsimony") is a problem-solving principle attributed to William of Ockham (c. A theory is the more impressive the greater the simplicity of its premises is, the more different kinds of things it relates, and the more extended its area of applicability. ![]()
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