Ockham's Razor: Simplicity in Philosophy and Science

Ockham's Razor: The Principle of Simplicity

Ockham's Razor is a principle that states that entities should not be multiplied without necessity. Based on this principle, one must always seek the simplest explanation, using only the necessary elements. With his "razor," Ockham sought to demonstrate that most philosophical questions are either false or can be explained without resorting to the language and concepts of metaphysics. To explain unique realities, the individual finds concepts such as essence and existence, substance and accident, efficient cause and final cause, and understanding and patient agent entirely unnecessary. The razor removes these terms, which are empty of meaning, from the Ockhamist language, as they only create false problems.

Fundamental Theses of Ockhamist Nominalism

Universals are names (nominalism), but names or mental concepts are produced spontaneously by the mind, guided by the principle of economy. There are private individuals, it is true, but these are many in number. To make it easier to refer to several individuals, we collect these individuals into different classes or groups and give them a name. This does not express anything in common between a plurality, but human understanding, to make language manageable, includes a plurality of things that have some similarities under a single name. If I had to call each of the oak trees where I walk with a different name, it would be difficult to understand and use language with ease and speed. However, thanks to the principle of economy, with few signs or concepts, I can make myself understood. People are called by a name, and all people are grouped together or called "people" to simplify and communicate.

William of Ockham: Critique of the Foundations of Physics and Metaphysics

Critique of Metaphysics

The Ockhamist conception of knowledge, which comes down to intuition and sensitive nominalism, deeply marked his position against metaphysics and theology. Any dispute about the duality of understanding, whether unique or personal, mortal or immortal, was eliminated with the consideration that only the act of knowledge corresponds to a unique capability that makes sensible intuition possible. The same happened with the fundamental concepts of metaphysics, such as substance and cause. The substance is depleted in the qualities of known objects, and the concept of substance as a support for the aspects that we perceive in things is empty of meaning and therefore dispensable. We do not know the cause; rather, we know several facts that we observe in our experience, and we realize some constancy in the chain of events. However, we do not perceive the link between cause and effect in a metaphysical sense where one (cause) necessarily produces the other (effect). This means that science must always be based on observation and should be limited to describing the regularities that occur in nature.

Fostering of Physics

If the only knowledge available is intuitive, science must necessarily be based on observation. The maximum that one can aspire to is to discover the regularity with which natural processes occur, which are never exactly the same. Under the influence of Ockham, some of the statements of Aristotle's physics began to be discussed. Merton College, Oxford, and the University of Paris took the first steps in that direction. The Mertonians would introduce the procedures of mathematics into the study of movement.