Welcome to another instalment of Friday Philosophy. In this week’s post I’ll present a snapshot of the English friar and theologian William of Ockham. We’ll look his most famous idea, known as Occam’s razor, and I’ll offer a few reflections on the man and his thought.
Who Was He?
The ‘Ockham’ part of William’s title relates to a small town of the same name in Surrey in the South East of England, where he was born in 1287 AD. In the same vein as Thomas Aquinas, who we looked at in last week’s post, William was a scholastic theologian and a major Christian thinker of the Medieval period.
William wrote influential works in the fields of logic, theology, and physics, and is celebrated in the Church of England with a commemoration each year on 10th April.
What’s the Big Idea?
The idea that came to be known as Occam’s razor is as follows. Where in matters of philosophy or science there are competing theories or hypotheses, the one that makes the fewest assumptions should be the one with which we proceed.
It may be not entirely accurate to attribute this idea solely to William of Ockham, as many centuries earlier, Aristotle had said, “Other things being equal, we should prefer a demonstration which derives from fewer postulates or hypotheses.” (Aristotle, Posterior Analytics).
My Reflections
I think Occam’s razor highlights the fact that there is often beauty in simplicity. We all love the formula E=MC2 because it is very simple yet captures a significant truth about the functioning of the physical world that has become profoundly important in the world of science.
I believe that Occam’s razor has some application when we consider deep philosophical questions about, for instance, the nature of God. Perhaps one of the reasons why the pantheist perspective that ‘all is God’ is so appealing is because it’s such a simple theory.
On the other hand, I don’t think Occam’s razor could be applied to all aspects of theology and philosophy. For instance, if we look at moral questions, such as the theodicy problem (why is there so much suffering in the world?) I believe the answer may well be very complex. Simplicity and complexity are both facets of the nature of God, and of the world, and both should be taken into account in the study of philosophical subjects.
In next week’s philosophy post we’ll move on from the Medieval period and begin looking at key thinkers in the 16th and 17th century, which saw the beginning of modern science. If you’d like to follow the series, please consider subscribing to this blog. Feel free to leave your thoughts about Occam’s razor in the comments below. Thank you for reading!
Perfect Chaos 
15 responses to “What is Occam’s Razor?”
Thanks for this.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for reading, Catherine!
LikeLike
Great post. I never knew anything about Occam himself.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for reading, my friend!
LikeLike
Was Occam also responsible for K.I.S.S.? “Keep It Simple Stupid” 😉
LikeLiked by 3 people
Makes me think of the movie Contact, in which this factored rather significantly. Good advice to stop the brain from racing. Go with the simplest explanation for things. Thanks for sharing!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Pastor Allen. I have a feeling I’ve seen the film Contact, though a long time ago! (I’m not too good with movies and have a terrible memory anyway!) Thank you for reading 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Contact is a good one. Matthew McConaughey gives Occam Razor advice to Jodie Foster.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hmmm might see if I can watch it via my Amazon Prime membership! Thank you!
LikeLike
Great Post!….those in the world of Theory of Constraints are disciples of Occam Razor
LikeLiked by 1 person
Interesting! Thanks for sharing that, and thanks for reading 🙂
LikeLike
Your closing sentence/thought is truth, outside philosophical subjects as well. Appreciate being informed!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Eric! Nice to hear from you. I hope all is well 🙂
LikeLike
It was great to be educated on not only the contents of a man’s work, but also the man himself! Thanks for that bit of history and philosophy.
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’re welcome, Brett! Glad you enjoyed the post and thank you for your comment 🙂
LikeLike