Religion and Ethics Forum
Religion and Ethics Discussion => Philosophy, in all its guises. => Topic started by: Nearly Sane on May 30, 2023, 01:59:52 PM
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On the Felt Presence thread there was mention of William.of Occam's razor:
https://www.religionethics.co.uk/index.php?topic=20008.msg863550;boardseen#new
Prof D challenged it, and I sort of agree, I think it's a blunter tool than it's often used as. Thoughts?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occam%27s_razor
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Occam's razor....interesting in what it implies about necessity and necessary entities.
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Occam's razor....interesting in what it implies about necessity and necessary entities.
Care to expand?
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Care to expand?
As far as I can see, The multiplication of entities beyond necessity in Occam's razor has mutated into merely the multiplication of entities where the aim is now to have as few entities as possible and that is now what constitutes a "win" in an argument, necessity being dispensed with.
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As far as I can see, The multiplication of entities beyond necessity in Occam's razor has mutated into merely the multiplication of entities where the aim is now to have as few entities as possible and that is now what constitutes a "win" in an argument, necessity being dispensed with.
I think you might be using 'necessity' in that statement with 2 different meanings.
1. Necessity to an explanation
And
2. Necessity in itself, applying to the entity, even withoit explanatory purpose.
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I think you might be using 'necessity' in that statement with 2 different meanings.
1. Necessity to an explanation
And
2. Necessity in itself, applying to the entity, even withoit explanatory purpose.
No, I don't think so.I use the word necessity twice with the same meaning in two contexts...presence and absence.
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No, I don't think so.I use the word necessity twice with the same meaning in two contexts...presence and absence.
Leaving aside your belief in that other's misuse the razor, do you think it has power?
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Leaving aside your belief in that other's misuse the razor, do you think it has power?
I'm not sure what you mean.
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I'm not sure what you mean.
Do you think it is useful? As per the OP, I think it's not actually that powerful as a tool.
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Do you think it is useful? As per the OP, I think it's not actually that powerful as a tool.
Loses it's power when you don't know if one or more entities is necessary.or not.
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Loses it's power when you don't know if one or more entities is necessary.or not.
How often do you know what is necessary?
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How often do you know what is necessary?
precisely.