back to ideas for this text


Single Idea 15787

[from 'The Trouble with Possible Worlds' by William Lycan, in 2. Reason / B. Laws of Thought / 6. Ockham's Razor ]

Full Idea

It might be said that Ockham's Razor is a purely aesthetic principle.

Gist of Idea

Maybe Ockham's Razor is a purely aesthetic principle

Source

William Lycan (The Trouble with Possible Worlds [1979], 02)

Book Reference

'The Possible and the Actual', ed/tr. Loux,Michael J. [Cornell 1979], p.281


A Reaction

I don't buy this, if it meant to be dismissive of the relevance of the principle to truth. A deep question might be, what is so aesthetically attractive about simplicity? I'm inclined to think that application of the Razor has delivered terrific results.