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Whenever two hypotheses cover the facts, use the simpler of the two.

William of Ockham

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William of Ockham
Died: 1349
Died: April 9
Friar Franciscan
Logician
Philosopher
Physicist
Theologian
Ockham
Surrey
Guilelmus de‏ ‎Ockham
William of Occam
William of Oakham
Whenever
Use
Facts
Hypotheses
Two
Simpler
Hypothesis
Cover
Simplicity

More quotes by William of Ockham

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The explanation requiring the fewest assumptions is most likely to be correct.
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No more things should be presumed to exist than are absolutely necessary.
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Entities must not be multiplied beyond necessity.
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3 is a prime, 5 is a prime, and 7 is a prime. Why bother with non-prime numbers when the primes can do everything?
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First it must be known that only a spoken word or a conventional sign is an equivocal or univocal term therefore a mental contentor concept is, strictly speaking, neither equivocal nor univocal.
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My God is the green tide in the spring leaves the redness of cherries high in the air the excitement of shooting stars the song of birds in summer branches the sunrise on a winter's morning the name of everything we don't understand.
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What can be explained by the assumption of fewer things is vainly explained by the assumption of more things.
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Entities should not be posited unnecessarily.
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Never increase, beyond what is necessary, the number of entities required to explain anything.
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Plurality is not to be posited without necessity.
William of Ockham
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For nothing ought to be posited without a reason given, unless it is self-evident (literally, known through itself) or known by experience or proved by the authority of Sacred Scripture.
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Simpler explanations are, other things being equal, generally better than more complex ones.
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Entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem
William of Ockham
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When you have two competing theories that make exactly the same predictions, the simpler one is the better.
William of Ockham
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God's existence cannot be deduced by reason alone.
William of Ockham
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With all things being equal, the simplest explanation tends to be the right one.
William of Ockham
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Plurality should not be assumed without necessity.
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Of two equivalent theories or explanations, all other things being equal, the simpler one is to be preferred.
William of Ockham
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It is vain to do with more what can be done with less.
William of Ockham
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Entities are not to be multiplied beyond necessity.
William of Ockham