Occam's razor

E35389

epistemological principle methodological principle philosophical principle scientific heuristic

Occam's razor is a philosophical and scientific principle that advises preferring the simplest explanation that adequately accounts for all observed facts.

Observed surface forms (1)

Surface form	As subject	As object
Ockham's razor	0	1

Statements (48)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	epistemological principle → methodological principle → philosophical principle → scientific heuristic →
alsoKnownAs	Occam's razor → surface form: Ockham's razor law of parsimony → principle of parsimony → principle of simplicity →
appliesTo	explanatory reasoning → hypothesis selection → model selection → theory choice →
coreIdea	among competing hypotheses select the one with the fewest assumptions → do not multiply entities beyond necessity → prefer simpler explanations when all else is equal →
hasDiscipline	epistemology → logic → philosophy of science → scientific methodology →
hasFormulation	do not posit more causes than are needed to explain the phenomena → entities should not be multiplied beyond necessity → the simplest explanation that fits the facts is to be preferred →
hasGoal	promote theoretical economy → reduce unnecessary assumptions in explanations →
hasLimitation	can conflict with empirical adequacy → depends on how simplicity is measured → simplicity alone does not guarantee truth →
hasOriginPeriod	14th century →
hasPhilosophicalDebate	whether nature itself is simple → whether simplicity is an epistemic or pragmatic virtue →
hasStatus	heuristic rule rather than a logical law →
influenced	Bayesian inference → surface form: Bayesian epistemology empiricism → logical positivism → modern scientific method →
namedAfter	William of Ockham →
relatedConcept	Bayesian Occam factor → Kolmogorov complexity → instrumentalism → minimum description length principle → parsimony → scientific realism → simplicity →
usedIn	Bayesian inference → everyday reasoning → philosophical argumentation → scientific reasoning → statistical model selection →

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Occam's razor → alsoKnownAs → Occam's razor →

this entity surface form: Ockham's razor

The Dragon in My Garage → relatedConcept → Occam's razor →