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Ockham's Razor

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There are different ways we come to know the “stuff” in this world. We generally prefer theories that are simple. The simpler the theory, the less entities involved; therefore, the fewer assumptions we have to make. Quine supports the principle Ockham’s Razor in acceptance of an ontology. Ockham’s Razor is a principle that is preferred when trying to determine our ontological beliefs. The first step of Quine’s method suggests that we use simple theories. As a naturalist, Quine also only takes what scientific theories give him. This is slightly problematic because that means only science can determine what exists and seems to deny common sense.

Ontology is the study of what there is and is a theory about the types of entities there are …show more content…

Simpler theories are generally preferred over complex theories because they contain fewer types of entities and not a fewer number of entities. Quine makes note of the difference between the number of different types of entities and the actual number of entities within a theory. He defines them as sparse (having fewer types) and abundant (having more types) ontology. The example he provides is the example that there may be the same amount of grains of sand in a desert as there are individual items in a rainforest; however, there is only one type of sand in the desert but a variety of different kinds, or types, of things in a rainforest . Differentiating between sparse ontology and abundant ontology is important because only then will we be able to analyze whether a theory we use to determine our ontological commitments is inherently simple or not. Another reason for why we should prefer simple theories as opposed to complex theories is the actual lack of varying entities present in a simple theory. A theory that is trying to describe too many things or makes too many assumptions is deemed complex. On the other hand, a simple theory, that is, one with fewer entities is assumed to contain a higher level of truth due to fewer assumptions being made. When fewer assumptions are made, there are fewer things to be possibly wrong …show more content…

That is, he allows for science to be the determiner of what exists and what does not and so only material “stuff” exists for him, as that is what science determines to be real. In other words, Quine makes the goal of ontology, ultimately, taking the best and the simplest science theories and putting them to use within his method . His method can be criticized because Quine, being a naturalist, denies a priori knowledge by definition and therefore, rejecting anything abstract such as mathematics. However, we do take that mathematics and other abstract theories to

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