Quote #416
"Entities should not be multiplied without necessity." aka
"Entia non sunt multiplicanda sine necessitate." aka
"Entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem."
--
( while attributed to William Occam, this sentence cannot be found in his
extant writing. See Lewis Jones' article [4]A Close Shave from the Past for
details. The idea was well-known at the time: ``Robert Grosseteste, a
chancellor of William's own university (Oxford) had written: "That is better
and more valuable which requires fewer, other circumstance being equal;
which necessitates the answering of a smaller number of questions for a
perfect demonstration.... As Aristotle says in Book V of the Physics,
"Nature operates in the shortest way possible."'' )
"Entities should not be multiplied without necessity." aka
"Entia non sunt multiplicanda sine necessitate." aka
"Entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem."
--
( while attributed to William Occam, this sentence cannot be found in his
extant writing. See Lewis Jones' article [4]A Close Shave from the Past for
details. The idea was well-known at the time: ``Robert Grosseteste, a
chancellor of William's own university (Oxford) had written: "That is better
and more valuable which requires fewer, other circumstance being equal;
which necessitates the answering of a smaller number of questions for a
perfect demonstration.... As Aristotle says in Book V of the Physics,
"Nature operates in the shortest way possible."'' )
Related:
- Entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem.
(Entities must not be multiplied beyond necessity.)
-
William of Occam, Occam's... - Pluralitas non ponenda est sine necessitate.
(Multiplicity is not to be asserted when it is unnecessary.)
-
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Occam's...
