William Ockham was one of the most popular philosophers of the XIV century. But modernity knows it only thanks to the authorship of the principle of simplicity. In one of his books, he proposed cutting off all unnecessary complexity, leaving only the required arguments. This principle is called "Occam's razor" and it sounds something like this: "You do not need to multiply entities without the need." In other words, he suggests, wherever possible, to dispense with simple explanations without complicating them.
The limits of the principle of Occam
The principle of "Occam's razor" is that reasoning should not be cluttered with unnecessary concepts and terms, if you can do without them. Its wording has changed countless times, but the meaning has remained unchanged.
Many monographs have been written on how Occam's razor works. This principle has become as significant as the exclusion of the third in logic or the theory of relativity in physics.
But is Occam's razor applicable in everyday life? Or can it be used only for scientific purposes? If we talk about the limits of the principle of simplicity, are such situations in science possible when saving thinking does not bring the expected results? And is it always necessary in life to solve problems only as they arrive?
Of course, such situations are quite real, since both science and our ordinary lives do not flow smoothly and measuredly. In some cases, it is necessary to make special decisions on which the future course of life or scientific events depends. And the moment comes when the obsolete theory is replaced by a completely new one. And at this time, you should not solve problems with the "Occam's razor." Do not cut off the "excess", otherwise you will miss something very important specifically for you or humanity as a whole.
So, we can conclude that the Occam’s razor is applicable when no qualitative changes are expected in science and life.
Occam's wording example
Philotheus Bener, a specialist in the history of medieval philosophy, in one of the 1957 editions reports that the Occam’s Razor is primarily formulated by the author as follows: “It is not worth stating a lot without necessity.” It is worth noting that William Ockham only voiced the principle of simplicity, known since the days of Aristotle. In logic, it is called the "law of sufficient reason."
As an example of a situation to which the Occam principle can be applied, we can cite the answer given by the physicist and mathematician Laplace to the Emperor Napoleon. Allegedly, the latter told the scientist that in his theories there is not enough space for God. To which Laplace answered him: "I did not need to consider this hypothesis."
If we reformulate the principle of simplicity and economy in the language of information, it will look like this: "The most accurate message is a short message."
This rule can be attributed to the current and to date requirements for specification of concepts. Each of the definitions used must be accurate in order to exclude the possibility of creating superfluous ones that claim to be comprehensive.
In logic, saving initial assumptions is that not one of the accepted theses should flow from the rest. That is, in the proof of the axiom there should not be unnecessary statements that are not directly related to it. Although this saving rule is not mandatory.