Philosophy Dictionary of ArgumentsHome
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| Simplicity philosophy: is not definable. E.g. One could try to define the simplicity of an object by the fact that the subject requires the shortest description. This is bound to fail, because the symbols used in the description in turn may refer to complex entities. See also unity, complexity, descriptions._____________Annotation: The above characterizations of concepts are neither definitions nor exhausting presentations of problems related to them. Instead, they are intended to give a short introduction to the contributions below. – Lexicon of Arguments. | |||
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John D. Barrow on Simplicity - Dictionary of Arguments
I 82 Simplicity/Barrow: The natural sciences prefer laws with as little complexity as possible. But you have to admit that this approach never allows to prove that the specific law we have formulated is a complete description of nature. There will always be undecidable statements. >Decidability, >Natural laws. That it is ever the most economic coding of facts remains unprovable. Unfortunately, one cannot know whether one has discovered the secret of the universe or not! A world in which all phenomena are only chaotically connected could only be described by infinite lists. >Lists, >Description, >World, >World/Thinking, >Reality._____________Explanation of symbols: Roman numerals indicate the source, arabic numerals indicate the page number. The corresponding books are indicated on the right hand side. ((s)…): Comment by the sender of the contribution. Translations: Dictionary of Arguments The note [Concept/Author], [Author1]Vs[Author2] or [Author]Vs[term] resp. "problem:"/"solution:", "old:"/"new:" and "thesis:" is an addition from the Dictionary of Arguments. If a German edition is specified, the page numbers refer to this edition. |
B I John D. Barrow Warum die Welt mathematisch ist Frankfurt/M. 1996 B II John D. Barrow The World Within the World, Oxford/New York 1988 German Edition: Die Natur der Natur: Wissen an den Grenzen von Raum und Zeit Heidelberg 1993 B III John D. Barrow Impossibility. The Limits of Science and the Science of Limits, Oxford/New York 1998 German Edition: Die Entdeckung des Unmöglichen. Forschung an den Grenzen des Wissens Heidelberg 2001 |
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> Counter arguments against Barrow
> Counter arguments in relation to Simplicity
Ed. Martin Schulz, access date 2024-04-27