Combining Philosophers

Ideas for Archimedes, Jonathan Swift and J Hoffman/G Rosenkrantz

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1 idea

8. Modes of Existence / E. Nominalism / 1. Nominalism / a. Nominalism

8961	Nominalists are motivated by Ockham's Razor and a distrust of unobservables [Hoffman/Rosenkrantz]
	Full Idea: The two main motivations for nominalism are an admirable commitment to Ockham's Razor, and a queasiness about postulating entities that are unobservable or non-empirical, existing in a non-physical realm.
	From: J Hoffman/G Rosenkrantz (Platonistic Theories of Universals [2003], 3)
	A reaction: It doesn't follow that because the entities are unobservable that they are non-physical. Consider the 'interior' of an electron. Neverless I share a love of Ockham's Razor and a deep caution about unobservables.