Occam's Razor
Ockham's Razor · Law of Parsimony
A problem-solving principle which says that all else being equal, the simplest solution is more often the correct one.
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Origin
Attributed to William of Ockham (c. 1287–1347), an English Franciscan friar and scholastic philosopher who wrote Numquam ponenda est pluralitas sine necessitate ("Plurality must never be posited without necessity"). Though similar ideas appear in Aristotle, Ptolemy, and Thomas Aquinas, the principle became permanently associated with Ockham. The term "Occam's razor" itself was not coined until 1852 by Scottish philosopher Sir William Hamilton.
Updated February 22, 2026