"Ockham's Razor" is a methodological principle, due to the medieval philosopher
William of Ockham, who mainly opposed an unjustified creation of new terms in philosophy.
An incorrect use of Ockham's Razor only leads to a perpetuation
and corroboration of existing prejudice, and this principle should not be used to easily get rid of unwelcome data
or concepts.
The original meaning of this principle can be understood only in the context
of the philosophical and theological debates of that time, especially on the "problem of universals". Above all, Ockham
opposes pseudo-explanatory or otherwise meaningless and superfluous terms.
The principle of simplicity, no matter in which version, does not
make a contribution to the selection of theories. Beyond trivial cases, the term "simplicity'' remains a subjective
term. What is compatible with somebody's own pre-existing world-view, will be considered simple, clear, logical, and evident,
whereas what is contradicting that world-view will quickly be rejected as an unnecessarily complex explanation and a senseless
additional hypothesis. In this way, the principle of simplicity becomes a mirror of prejudice, and, still worse,
a distorting mirror, since this origin is camouflaged.
the principle of that honourable mediaeval philosopher should not be misused
as a secret weapon destined to smuggle prejudice into the discussion and to easily dismiss unwelcome concepts.
