William of Ockham

Note the following got from the Internet and this means not part of it is to be accepted without verification. (WPT).

In an article published in Mind 27 (1918), 345-353, William Thorburn gives convincing evidence that what is now called 'Ockham's Razor', the principle that entities should not be multiplied beyond necessity, is a 'modern myth'. He concludes

1. That the maxim 'Entities should not be multiplied without necessity' (Entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem is not medieval at all, but was invented in 1639, substantially in its present wording, by the Scotist Commentator, John Ponce of Cork. 2. It does capture the spirit of genuinely medieval maxims of the form 'plurality is not to be supposed without necessity (Pluralitas non est ponenda sine necessitate). 3. However, these maxims, though employed by Ockham, did not originate with him. Earlier philosophers, such as Scotus, also used them. 4. The maxim 'Entia non sunt &c' was first associated with Nominalism by Leibniz in 1670. 5. The label 'Ockham's Razor' was first applied in 1852 by Sir William Hamilton.

http://uk.geocities.com/[email protected]/latin/mythofockham.htm#intro