Do not revise Ockham's razor without necessity

Baron, Sam; Tallant, Jonathan

Abstract

Ockham’s razor asks that we not multiply entities beyond necessity. The razor is a powerful methodological tool, enabling us to articulate reasons for preferring one theory to another. There are those, however, who would modify the razor. Schaffer (2010: 313—our italics), for one, tells us that, ‘I think the proper rendering of Ockham’s razor should be ‘Do not multiply fundamental entities without necessity’. Our aim, here, is to challenge such re-workings of Ockham’s razor.

Citation

Baron, S., & Tallant, J. (2018). Do not revise Ockham's razor without necessity. Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 96(3), 596-619. https://doi.org/10.1111/phpr.12337

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 14, 2016
• Online Publication Date: Sep 7, 2016
• Publication Date: May 30, 2018
• Deposit Date: Jul 14, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 8, 2018
• Journal: Philosophy and Phenomenological Research
• Print ISSN: 0031-8205
• Electronic ISSN: 1933-1592
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 96
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 596-619
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/phpr.12337
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/934494
• Publisher URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/phpr.12337/full
• Additional Information: This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Baron, S. and Tallant, J. (2016), Do Not Revise Ockham's Razor Without Necessity. Philos Phenomenol Res. doi:10.1111/phpr.12337 which has been published in final form at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/phpr.12337/full This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.
• Contract Date: Jul 14, 2016