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The Role Of God In Ockham's Razor

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Recommended: John locke and its impact on subsequent philosophies

Dakarai Bishop
Professor Leib
PHI 2010
1 March 2018
Essay 2 During the Middle Ages, the proof of God was a question that many philosophers of that time tried to answer. Despite many individuals already believing in God, the philosophers still wanted to answer the question of “does God exist”. A principle called Ockham’s Razor, which was developed by William of Ockham, was used by many of these empiricist philosophers to challenge or align with the arguments regarding the proof of God’s existence. This question still lingers with the philosophers of today, and it most likely will for some time in the future. In this paper, I will explain what Ockham’s Razor is and the perception of it from many empiricists, the Ontological and Cosmological …show more content…

Well, Locke developed the idea of Primary and Secondary Qualities, along with Simple and Complex Ideas. Simple Ideas are ideas that can’t be broken down into detail while Complex Ideas can be broken down into detail. For example, the word Gray cannot be broken down into detail because there is no further explanation for something that is gray in color. A complex idea like the word “skinny” can be broken down into detail since one would have to describe something or someone being skinny. In other words, a complex idea is a combination of simple ideas. When someone thinks of a Complex Idea, they don’t have to think about anything that isn’t important regarding the Complex Idea. Everything that the person thinks about, relates to the Complex Idea. So even if the person thinks about a lot of reasons of why that cat is skinny, they are still proving why that cat is skinny without speaking in vain or rambling on and making no sense. This is only my …show more content…

Now could Ockham’s Razor be placed against the arguments of those who believe or don’t believe in a higher being? The existence of God is something that philosophers and regular people question all the time. Two philosophers questioned the existence of God; Anslem and Aquinas. The Ontological Argument, or the argument of existence, was put out by Anslem. Anslem believed in the existence of a supreme being and proved that it was possible to believe in someone like that. “It is possible to think a being “than which nothing greater can be conceived” -i.e. it is the most Perfect. So, if you are actually thinking of “that than which nothing greater can be conceived,” this logically entails thinking of that thing as existing in reality as well as in the mind. This being is what we call “God”” (Leib slide 2). I believe that Ockham’s Razor cannot be pitted against this argument because the Razor already explains that the belief of one supreme being is a lot simpler than the belief of many. Anslem’s argument is trying to prove the existence of “one” supreme being, which already complies with Ockham’s Razor. Aquinas’s Cosmological Argument of God’s existence on the other hand is way too complex. He states that efficient causes are the reason for God’s existence. This argument is too complex, and Ockham’s Razor

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