William of Occam
Mac OS X has a built-in copy of the Oxford American Dictionary. I had not had a chance to play with it until last night. I typed in William to see a list of biographical entries with that name, and the one that jumped out was "William of Occam." Here is the entry:
( c. 1285–1349), English philosopher and Franciscan friar. A defender of nominalism, he is known for the maxim called “Occam's razor.”
Wikipedia has an extremely detailed entry on Occam's razor, which I have always understood to be: The simplest explanation is usually the best. The entry on William of Occam (or Ockham) himself is much shorter but is also interesting. The Wikipedia article links to a better brief biographical essay from the University of St. Andrews, which has the following quote from the Dictionary of National Biography:
".. with the revival of interest in late medieval thought that took place in the second half of the twentieth century, Ockham has re-emerged as one of the major figures of scholastic thought, generally ranked on the level of Thomas Aquinas and John Duns Scotus. And from the standpoint of the philosophy of the 1980s and 1990s, Ockham's interest in terminist logic, linguistic theory, and semiotics has placed him in the forefront of those medieval thinkers used as sources in contemporary philosophical discussion."
Something to think about next time you hear about "Occam's Razor."
( c. 1285–1349), English philosopher and Franciscan friar. A defender of nominalism, he is known for the maxim called “Occam's razor.”
Wikipedia has an extremely detailed entry on Occam's razor, which I have always understood to be: The simplest explanation is usually the best. The entry on William of Occam (or Ockham) himself is much shorter but is also interesting. The Wikipedia article links to a better brief biographical essay from the University of St. Andrews, which has the following quote from the Dictionary of National Biography:
".. with the revival of interest in late medieval thought that took place in the second half of the twentieth century, Ockham has re-emerged as one of the major figures of scholastic thought, generally ranked on the level of Thomas Aquinas and John Duns Scotus. And from the standpoint of the philosophy of the 1980s and 1990s, Ockham's interest in terminist logic, linguistic theory, and semiotics has placed him in the forefront of those medieval thinkers used as sources in contemporary philosophical discussion."
Something to think about next time you hear about "Occam's Razor."
posted by Virginian | 7:37 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home