Re: [tied] Occam's Razor

From: Piotr Gasiorowski
Message: 36838
Date: 2005-03-23

On 05-03-22 23:43, Andrew Jarrette wrote:

> What is meant by the term "Occam's Razor", often invoked by
> Indo-Europeanists?

It's a different name for the general scientific principle of parsimony
(invoked by scholars of all disciplines). The most often quoted Latin
formulation of the principle (not actually by William of Ockham, to whom
it is traditionally attributed) is "Entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter
necessitatem" (Entities should not be multiplied beyond necessity).
There's a good Wikipedia article about Ockham's Razor, its use and its
misuse at

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occam's_Razor

Piotr