William of Ockham
A Franciscan friar and scholastic philosopher, known for 'Ockham's Razor', the principle of parsimony.
Quotes by William of Ockham
Plurality is not to be posited without necessity.
What can be explained by fewer principles is explained needlessly by more.
Entities should not be multiplied unnecessarily.
It is vain to do with more what can be done with fewer.
No plurality should be assumed unless it is proved by reason or experience.
Everything which can be done by means of a few principles is done in vain by means of many.
The simplest explanation is usually the best one.
Nothing is to be assumed as existing unless it is known by experience or proved by irrefutable reasoning.
God can do anything that does not involve a contradiction.
No universal exists outside the mind.
Universals are not things, but terms or concepts.
Only individuals exist.
Knowledge of universals is not prior to knowledge of particulars.
Intuitive cognition is the immediate apprehension of an existent thing.
Abstractive cognition is that by which we know a thing without knowing whether it exists or not.
Faith is not knowledge.
Reason cannot prove the articles of faith.
The existence of God cannot be demonstrated by natural reason alone.
The immortality of the soul cannot be proved by natural reason.
The will is free.