Questions tagged [simplicity]
The simplicity tag has no usage guidance.
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What types of observations necessitate postulating more complex theories without violating Occam's Razor?
This question is inspired by the related question How could both Occam's Razor and complex theories like Quantum Mechanics be correct at the same time?. The accepted answer reasonably argues:
The ...
user66156
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Is simplicity the most important criterion when choosing between theories?
I keep seeing talk here of how simplicity isn’t that important when deciding between theories but after looking at the different kinds of virtues behind theory choice, I fail to see how the rest can ...
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Explain the answer from Reddit and give an explanation about Occam's Razor
https://www.reddit.com/r/askphilosophy/comments/bwcjpv/does_occams_razor_imply_solipsismsimulationism/
It says that Occam's razor can only be applied to competing theories:
"Occam's Razor is a ...
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Do we have evidence that explanations that contain a minimal number of entities are true? [closed]
Does our universe require all our explanations to be the most minimal?
For example, entropy indicates that everything in our universe tends to a minimum.
So all explanations should be as minimal as ...
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Which simplicity is given greater priority: explanatory simplicity or ontological simplicity? [duplicate]
If solipsism wins in quantitative simplicity, is that a reason to believe in solipsism?
Or does the fact that the existence of other minds wins in explanatory simplicity neutralize the quantitative ...
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Is physicalism the simplest worldview in terms of the complexity of its ontology? [closed]
Does physicalism enjoy the simplest ontology among all worldviews?
Are there alternative conceivable views of reality with a simpler ontology than physicalism's that can explain the same data? For ...
user66156
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What are theistic responses to Graham Oppy's argument for atheism from naturalism?
Short version
I'm specifically referring to Graham Oppy's paper An Argument for Atheism from Naturalism:
Abstract This paper outlines an argument for atheism from naturalism that I have developed in ...
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Could Occam's Razor ever favor theism?
In principle, could Occam's Razor ever favor theism over rival hypotheses like naturalism? What conditions would have to be met for this to be the case?
BONUS: for those interested in naturalism vs. ...
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Should reducing and simplifying explanations be a core aspect of Philosophical practice?
I'm an Engineer, and a Computer Programmer. But I repeat myself... For me, my life and breath is getting to the bottom of complex things and rendering an explanation or instantiation (for programs) ...
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Is brevity the soul of wit?
The principle of parsimony is a fundamental philosophical tool. So, is modern philosophy over-complicated? Simplicity is also elegant. So is modern philosophy inelegant? As well as prolix, irrelevant, ...
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How does one judge the "complexity" of a given assumption (for the purpose of producing the “best explanation")?
In philosophy and science, we may wish to argue that some hypothesis 'explains' some facts we observe. In which case, we may lay out some assumptions for our hypothesis, in order to show how these ...
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