What exists?
- Description:
- Readings for students in Philosophy 2B module 'What exists?'
Existence and Ockham's razor
What exists? In this module, we consider specific existence questions, concerning abstract objects, composite objects, and space. Before that, we ask how to approach the question of what exists - or how to theorise about ontology, in the technical jargon. The first lecture discusses the idea that existence claims require justification, and that by default, we should not accept them. This idea goes under such labels as 'Ockham's razor' and 'ontological parsimony'.
Commitment to existence claims
Ockham's razor, as discussed in the first lecture, suggests a preference for theories that make fewer existence claims. But what are the existence claims of a theory? One might think they are claims formulated using the word `exists'. But things are not so simple. The relevant existence claims are not only those that a theory explicitly makes, but also those it implicitly makes. When you say that there are lots of skiers on the slopes, you do not explicitly claim that skis exist, but you do so implicitly. How are we to determine the existence claims (explicit or implicit) that a theory makes? This question is known as the question of the "ontological commitments'' of a theory. When discussing it, we can draw on what you learn in the module ``How to think formally about existence''.