WHEN IS PARSIMONY A VIRTUE?

Michael Huemer

155 citations0/0 files storedThe Philosophical Quarterly

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Epistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics Philosophy and History of Science Philosophy, Science, and History

Abstract

Parsimony is a virtue of empirical theories. Is it also a virtue of philosophical theories? I review four contemporary accounts of the virtue of parsimony in empirical theorizing, and consider how each might apply to two prominent appeals to parsimony in the philosophical literature, those made on behalf of physicalism and on behalf of nominalism. None of the accounts of the virtue of parsimony extends naturally to either of these philosophical cases. This suggests that in typical philosophical contexts, ontological simplicity has no evidential value.

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2013The Logic of Scientific Discovery 1960Word and Object 1986On the Plurality of Worlds 1983New work for a theory of universals 1959Sensations and Brain Processes 1972On What There is 1994How to Tell When Simpler, More Unified, or LessAd HocTheories will Provide More Accurate Predictions 1970Sensations and brain processes

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