Ockham’s Razor
Background
William of Ockham, also referred to as “The Invincible Doctor”, was a fourteenth-century, medieval English philosopher known for his sharp mind and writings on logic, philosophy, theology, and politics. He was ordained in 1306 and pursued a degree in theology from Oxford University, but never completed his studies. He considered himself to be a follower of Aristotle however, his approach to philosophy was considered radical at the time. In metaphysics, Ockham favored nominalism, the theory that there are no universal properties in reality, they are just concepts in the mind. In epistemology, Ockham upholds direct realism, the theory that all knowledge is derived from sense-experiences. He published several different
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But this principle has seen its share of critics who formed their own theories often referred to as anti-razors. Walter Chatton (1287-1347) opposed Ockham’s theory and developed his own opposing principle built on the idea that explanations should continue to be added until a proposition could be verified as true. “If three things are not enough to verify an affirmative proposition about things, a fourth must be added, and so on.” (“Ockham’s Razor,” n.d.). As you can imagine this principle had limited success and was certainly not efficient. Gottfried Leibniz (1646-1716) coined the term Principle of Sufficient Reason which stated “there must be a sufficient reason, often known only to God, for anything to exist, for any event to occur, for any truth to obtain” (Gottfried Leibniz. (n.d.). In general, anything that happens does so for a specific, or infinite, number of …show more content…
It opened the door to many discoveries, with Steven Hawking attributing the discovery of quantum mechanics to Ockham’s Razor. How we view the environment, program our computers and phones, and conduct ourselves every day is tied to Ockham’s Razor. We use this principle as the basis for our common sense and we use it every day, without realizing it, to settle disagreements and formulate our beliefs. Ockham’s Razor has been used to refute some ideas and worldviews in an attempt to prove there is no God (Kaye, n.d.).
Ockham’s principle has provided the foundation for much of today’s philosophy, statistical model selection and scientific inquiry by providing a guideline that physicians, scientists, etc. use to investigate and prove or disprove their own ideas. Ockham’s Razor is meant to help scientists use sound judgement when reviewing results but is not a tool they can use to establish proof, as there is no supporting evidence that the simpler answer is always true. While generally agreed that the simpler explanation is likely the best one, there are cases, especially in science, where a more thorough review of the explanations is necessary and a more complex answer is more appropriate in determining the truth. As mentioned earlier, there are challenges when it comes to defining simple as it is open to individual interpretation. This subjectivity could be used to support one theory over
was more to be said, soon after he wrote a book. Krakauer takes a similar approach as
issues. He has written many other books with Dugard like Killing Kennedy: T he End of Camelot,
Crichton wrote his first bestseller, The Andromeda Strain, while studying medicine at Harvard. “He later worked full time on film and writing. One of the most popular writers in the world, he has sold over 200 million books. His books have been translated into thirty-eight languages and thirteen have been made into films” (Constant). Other books such as: Five Patients, Terminal Man, Westworld, Great Train Robbery, Eaters of the Dead, Jasper Johns, Coma, Congo, Looker, Electronic Life, Runaway, Sphere, Travels, Jurassic Park, Rising Sun, Disclosure, ER, Lost World, Twister, Prey, State of Fear, Next, Pirate Latitudes, Micro, and Overview (Constant). He also published work under the pseudonyms John Lange, Jeffery Hudson and Michael Douglas (FamousAuthors 1).
...t something can only happen if certain conditions prevents the very fulfilling of that condition prevents it from ever happening." (Colmer 211)
After he got a job as a journalist and essayist and helped a Scotsman named
For countless years there has always been an urgent need for doctors. Different methods would be used to cure people from their sicknesses. However, life is given by God and it is he who can take it away. Doctors play the role of saving lives, but in the end, they are powerless because nature has to take its course leaving humanity at its limits. In Vincent Lams novel “Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures”, Lam challenges the myth that doctors are omnipotent by contending that “medicine is a science of uncertainty and an art of probability”. Using Fitzgerald as a focal point, Lam debunks the myth that doctors are omnipotent through situations of medical failure, having a loss of power and control and by inhabiting deadly diseases. By showings his mistakes, Lam proves that Fitz is not perfect and God like.
“All that is certain about the matter is: (1) that, if we have free will, it must be true, in some sense, that we sometimes could have done what we did not do; and (2) that, if everything is caused, it must be true, in some sense, that we never could have done, what we did not do.” ( Moore: 1912: pg 90)
Are you someone who believes that everything happens for a reason? While some things happen that do not affect any part of my life, I believe that everything happens for a reason no matter what it is. Everything I do in life has a consequence to it whether it be big or little. If nothing had a reason for happening, what would our purpose of living be.
end of the First World War he was writing and became a voice heard all
... a theory should be able to explain a wide variety of things, not just only what it was intended to explain.
incorporated the works into his own or others who incorporated his work into their own,
which the movie October Sky was taken. He also explained how he came to write the book and
In the 1991 film titled “The Doctor”, William Hurt portrays Dr. Jack MaKee, a cardiothoracic surgeon coming to terms with issues related to his newly diagnosed laryngeal cancer.
create a novel out of an actual event. He had thousands of notes on the subject,
In “Principle of Sufficient Reason”, Michael Della Rocca tries to convince us to support principle of sufficient reason (PSR from now on), although it is widely rejected by many philosophers. PSR, simply put, is the principle that each fact has an explanation. He jokingly says that this paper will give him many allies and that there’s a few reason why PSR isn’t as widely accepted as it should be. First reason being that PSR hasn’t been effectively argued for until now. The second reason is that for the past 271 years, many philosophers almost made it their goal to attack PSR directly.