Caveat: Occam’s Phaser

[broken link! FIXME] ImagesThis is the recreational philosophy blogentry-du-jour.

Let's see if I can explain this. "Occam's Razor" is the "law of succinctness" in philosophy, the dictum that given a simpler and more complex explanation for something, the simpler is better, all other things being equal. So this philosopher named John Holbo, blogging at Crooked Timber, coins "Occam's Phaser," in which he suggests, "Do not compound the silliness of your examples beyond necessity." This is due to one of those [broken link! FIXME] trolleological [broken link! FIXME] parables which he encountered while reading something by Nozick.

Personally, I agree with some of the commenters, who point out that the humorousness of these philosophical examples and stories is part of the point of them – I would suggest that, in discussing awkward or unexpected ethical or philosophical intuitions, these resorts to humor can help "disarm" us, vis-a-vis our preconceptions. They lower our defenses, thus enabling a more objective self-reflection.

Still, in all, I understand his point. Why suggest an outlandish situation that relies on impossibilities, when realistic examples meeting the same criteria (from a philosophical standpoint) are feasible? Perhaps because the philosophers aren't as comfortable with their conclusions as they'd like to hope.

And beyond that, I love the name – the label – that he's given to his new principle of trolleological plausi-parsimony: Occam's Phaser. Occam, of course, would have a blue shirt – he'd be a science officer, right?

John Holbo, incidentally, is someone who offers change you can really believe in (which is to say, I was delighted by the below image, which is one of his compositions):

Change_html_m2c2c39d8

Caveat: Newark, South Korea

Yesterday after work I took the subway in to Itaewon to meet my friend Basil, who'd recently returned from a holiday in Turkey. We went to a Middle Eastern restaurant there, of course. I like hearing Basil speaking Arabic with people in Seoul. It feels very international.

We stopped at the food store there that sells things like coriander powder and split peas and lentils, and I stocked up. We wandered around the neighborhood because Basil was looking for the hotel where he wanted to stay – I guess he'd been there before but forgot where it was. There are a lot of interesting halal grocers and restaurants and things on the side streets to the south east of Itaewon station. I said… "it's like visiting New York." Then, as an afterthought, looking at the uninspiring architecture, I said, "Or maybe Newark, New Jersey."

I came home last night and made some soup and have had a very lazy Sunday today.

Here's a picture of dusk from the hill in Itaewon, looking toward Yongsan.

[broken link! FIXME] Sat 002

What I'm listening to right now.

Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood, "Down From Dover," 1972. Originally written and performed by Dolly Parton. And riddle me this – why does Lee Hazlewood have the same singing voice as Mr Snuffleupagus?

Back to Top