Ockham razor4/2/2023 Padgett, p.196, 2012).īut some caution is needed. In this role it is now completely superseded by science.” In claiming that science explains God away, Dawkins focuses in particular on “Darwin’s destruction of the argument from design.” Outside the New Atheism, cosmologist Sean Carroll sums up the view clearly, “Over the past five hundred years, the progress of science has worked to strip away God’s roles in the world … Two thousand years ago, it was perfectly reasonable to invoke God as an explanation for natural phenomena now, we can do much better.” ( The Blackwell Companion to Science and Christianity, eds J.B. The late Christopher Hitchens appealed explicitly to Ockham’s razor as part of his case against God and the same idea is found in Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion (2006) where he claims that “Historically, religion aspired to explain our own existence and the nature of the universe in which we find ourselves. This kind of reasoning is central to the New Atheism. There is no need for two explanations when one will do. William of Ockham was a medieval philosopher and theologian, and his famous ‘razor’ is the idea that “It is futile to do with more things that which can be done with fewer.” Applied to science and God, the implication seems to be that if science can explain the world around us on its own, there is no need for science and God. Sometimes this is expressed in terms of Ockham’s razor. The suggestion is that as science explains more and more about the world there is less and less need for God. The idea that science has explained God away is very popular. William of Occam: no, it can’t be me.SUBSCRIBE NOW Articles Science, Ockham’s Razor & God David Glass and Mark McCartney say Ockham’s razor doesn’t cut it with God. Thanks to its name, Occam’s razor invites plenty of puns:ĭetective: after considering all the evidence and analyzing all the possible scenarios, I have concluded that the murder weapon was Occam’s razor! Not sure there’s much difference between the two. Trump is either a Russian agent, or he’s willingly being manipulated by the Russians. Occam’s Razor: the simplest explanation that will account for a circumstance or event is most likely the correct explanation. Others apply it more sharply to politics, especially to bust conspiratorial thinking. In other words, if it sounds like Scott was texting from Tessa’s phone, that’s probably what happened. Occam’s Razor: The simplest explanation is most likely the correct one. Outside of discussions in science and logic, some people casually cite Occam’s razor as a handy rule of thumb to make sense of life and all its messes. A pity that many educated people have fixed conclusions based on ideas like Occam’s razor. It incorporates more data than most libraries, the mystery of life and death are there to those who study. We don’t really exist but there’s a lot of stuff buried in the conscious process. Some critics of Occam’s razor, however, state that the principle is an oversimplification of the complexities of real life and often rules out creative thinking. The principle is also commonly applied in modes of reasoning in philosophy, math, and religion-and, of course, The Simpsons in 1994, when Lisa cites Occam’s razor to dismiss some outlandish hypotheticals. Occam’s razor compels us to form the simplest hypothesis that is consistent with the data available. Many folks first encounter Occam’s razor in school when learning about the scientific method and learning about how to create testable and falsifiable hypotheses. We can’t 100% rule out that it didn’t happen. Not a goose disguised as a duck that infiltrated the flock. If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, says Occam’s razor, it’s probably a duck. Hamilton credited William of Ockham, a 14th-century English monk and philosopher, with formulating his namesake, Occam’s razor: “More things should not be used than are necessary.” In other words, when trying to make sense of some phenomenon (especially between two competing alternatives), it’s best to avoid the more elaborate explanation-shave it off, like a razor. The phrase Occam’s razor is recorded in 1852 by the Scottish metaphysician Sir William Hamilton. Just as we all strive to pinch our pennies, Occam’s razor teaches us that we should hold off on our hypotheticals. Occam’s razor is grounded in the idea of parsimony-being thrifty with your resources.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply.AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |