William of Occam
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William of Ockham (ca. 1285-1349) was an English theologian and Franciscan monk. His works are written in Latin. Today known as the originator of Occam's razor, often compared or confused with Hanlon's razor "Do not attribute to malice that which can easily be explained by stupidity".
[edit] Attributed
- Entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem.
- Entities should not be multiplied beyond necessity.
- Though widely cited as Occam's razor, the popular wording is not found in his extant works. Some succinct expressions of the concept in his actual works include:
- Numquam ponenda est pluralitas sine necessitate.
- Plurality ought never be posited without necessity.
- Quaestiones et decisiones in quattuor libros Sententiarum Petri Lombardi (ed. Lugd., 1495), i, dist. 27, qu. 2, K
- Frustra fit per plura quod potest fieri per pauciora.
- It is futile to do with more things that which can be done with fewer.
- Summa Totius Logicae, i. 12
- Numquam ponenda est pluralitas sine necessitate.
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