Page "Occam's razor" Paragraph 51

Occam's razor has met some opposition from people who have considered it too extreme or rash.

Walter of Chatton was a contemporary of William of Ockham ( 1287 – 1347 ) who took exception to Occam's razor and Ockham's use of it.

In response he devised his own anti-razor: " If three things are not enough to verify an affirmative proposition about things, a fourth must be added, and so on.

" Although there have been a number of philosophers who have formulated similar anti-razors since Chatton's time, no one anti-razor has perpetuated in as much notability as Chatton's anti-razor, although this could be the case of the Late Renaissance Italian motto of unknown attribution Se non è vero, è ben trovato (" Even if it is not true, it is well conceived ") when referred to a particularly artful explanation.