Printer Friendly
Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus - The Free Dictionary
3,906,368,544 visitors served.
forum Join the Word of the Day Mailing List For webmasters
?
Dictionary/
thesaurus
Medical
dictionary
Legal
dictionary
Financial
dictionary
Acronyms
 
Idioms
Encyclopedia
Wikipedia
encyclopedia
?

Ockham's razor

   Also found in: Medical, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia 0.01 sec.
Ock·ham's razor also Oc·cam's razor  (kmz)
n.
A rule in science and philosophy stating that entities should not be multiplied needlessly. This rule is interpreted to mean that the simplest of two or more competing theories is preferable and that an explanation for unknown phenomena should first be attempted in terms of what is already known. Also called law of parsimony.

[After William of Ockham.]

Ockham's razor, Occam's razor [ˈɒkəmzh]
n
(Philosophy) a maxim, attributed to the English nominalist philosopher William of Ockham (died ?1349), stating that in explaining something assumptions must not be needlessly multiplied Also called the principle of economy
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun1.Ockham's Razor - the principle that entities should not be multiplied needlessly; the simplest of two competing theories is to be preferred
principle, rule - a rule or law concerning a natural phenomenon or the function of a complex system; "the principle of the conservation of mass"; "the principle of jet propulsion"; "the right-hand rule for inductive fields"


Want to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit the webmaster's page for free fun content.
?Page tools
Printer friendly
Cite / link
Feedback
Add definition
Mentioned in?  References in periodicals archive?   Dictionary browser?   Full browser?
 
First I went to see Ockham's Razor with their stunning, spellbinding pieces of aerial theatre, then Pacitti Company's somewhat disturbing and thought-provoking promenade performance of Finale and finally Northern Broadside's political farce, AccidentalDeath Of An Anarchist, which was extremely well acted, cleverly adapted, topical and hilarious in places
In the spirit of Ockham's razor, this study uses the less complicated method of estimating future participation at a regional level, to show that parsimony is equally successful, more accessible, credible and replicable, and requires less data--a particular issue for regional analysis.
Surely Ockham's razor can be usefully invoked in a case such as this.
 
 
 
Dictionary, Thesaurus, and Translations
?

Terms of Use | Privacy policy | Feedback | Advertise with Us | Copyright © 2012 Farlex, Inc.
Disclaimer
All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional.