Friday, November 24, 2006 :::
Occam's Razor is self-refuting.
Occam’s Razor: Of two equivalent theories or explanations, all other things being equal, the simpler one (makes the least assumptions) is to be preferred.
Hypothesis A and Hypothesis B explain X equally well. Hypothesis A and Hypothesis B are exclusive.
How to choose between A and B?
1.Just choose any one of the hypotheses. (no assumptions)
2.Choose the simpler hypothesis. (assumption: Occam’s Razor is true, that the simpler one is to be preferred.)
Therefore, by Occam’s Razor, we should choose 1 and reject 2, which incidentally is Occam’s Razor itself. Occam’s Razor is therefore proven to be self-refuting.
|
::: posted by Richard Wan at 3:30 AM
there are occupational hazards being a philosophy major. there are words that i never use anymore, in both informal writing and in conversation, because the philosophical connotations are too extreme.
take the word 'necessary'. it used to be quite a common word. until i found out that necessary really really meant necessary. something being necessary means that it is necessary in every possible world. it is necessary to be fillial to my parents, for example. but i could have been orphaned from birth, and did not know my parents, and i can't be fillial to them. therefore, it is not the case that it is necessary, in this super strict sense, to be fillial to my parents.
i never use 'casual' anymore. now it is all 'causal'. i got a shock early this sem when i saw my essay question, 'are there causal powers?'. i saw it as 'are there casual powers?'. images of casual sex and aids popped into my mind instantly. then i gradually realised, causal is so much more boring than casual. A cause B, but do we really know that? A cause B, therefore does A really exist? yawwn.
the philosophers of long past must like tools and gardening a lot. everything goes poke poke with Hume's Fork, chop chop with Hume's Hatchet, and shave shave with Ockham's Razor. now i cant shave properly every morning without thinking of dear Ockham.
bum. keep your sanity and your distance from in-depth and graded philosophy. i admire people who know nuts about philosophy and ask me 'so tell me about life', when they find out i'm a philosophy major.
|
::: posted by Richard Wan at 2:52 AM
