William of Ockham
William of Ockham (also Occam, Hockham, or any of several other spellings, IPA: /ˈɒkəm/) (c. 1288 - c. 1348) was an English Franciscan friar and scholastic philosopher, from Ockham, a small village in Surrey, near East Horsley. He is considered, along with Thomas Aquinas, Duns Scotus, and Averroes (ibn Rushd in the Middle East), to be one of the major figures of medieval thought and was at the centre of the major intellectual and political controversies of the fourteenth century. Although commonly known for Occam's Razor, the methodological principle that bears his name, William of Ockham also produced significant works on logic, physics, and theology. In the Church of England, his day of commemoration is April 10.
“Pluralitas non est ponenda sine neccesitate. (Entities should not be multiplied unnecessarily.)”
William of Ockham
“All things being equal, the simplest solution tends to be the best one.”
William of Ockham
“Keep things simple.”
William of Ockham
“With all things being equal, the simplest explanation tends to be the right one.”
William of Ockham
“Entities should not be multiplied beyond necessity.”
William of Ockham
“Entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem.”
William of Ockham