16 Facts About Occam's razor

Similarly, in science, Occam's razor is used as an abductive heuristic in the development of theoretical models rather than as a rigorous arbiter between candidate models.

Phrase Occam's razor did not appear until a few centuries after William of Ockham's death in 1347.

Origins of what has come to be known as Occam's razor are traceable to the works of earlier philosophers such as John Duns Scotus, Robert Grosseteste, Maimonides, and even Aristotle.

The term Occam's razor refers to distinguishing between two hypotheses either by "shaving away" unnecessary assumptions or cutting apart two similar conclusions.

Occam's razor has gained strong empirical support in helping to converge on better theories.

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One justification of Occam's razor is a direct result of basic probability theory.

The probabilistic basis for Occam's razor is elaborated by David J C MacKay in chapter 28 of his book Information Theory, Inference, and Learning Algorithms, where he emphasizes that a prior bias in favor of simpler models is not required.

Occam's razor has since rejected this account of simplicity, purportedly because it fails to provide an epistemic justification for simplicity.

Occam's razor now believes that simplicity considerations do not count unless they reflect something more fundamental.

In science, Occam's razor is used as a heuristic to guide scientists in developing theoretical models rather than as an arbiter between published models.

In chemistry, Occam's razor is often an important heuristic when developing a model of a reaction mechanism.

St Thomas Aquinas, in the Summa Theologica, uses a formulation of Occam's razor to construct an objection to the idea that God exists, which he refutes directly with a counterargument:.

Occam's razor invoked Occam's razor against materialism, stating that matter was not required by his metaphysics and was thus eliminable.

Statistical versions of Occam's razor have a more rigorous formulation than what philosophical discussions produce.

Occam's razor is used to adjudicate between theories that have already passed "theoretical scrutiny" tests and are equally well-supported by evidence.

Occam's razor has met some opposition from people who have considered it too extreme or rash.