Hostname: page-component-cb9f654ff-kl2l2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-08-19T01:54:13.510Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

J. J. C. Smart, Materialism and Occam's Razor

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 February 2009

Peter Glassen
Peter Glassen
Affiliation:
University of Manitoba
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content.
Image of the first page of this content. For PDF version, please use the ‘Save PDF’ preceeding this image.'

Information

Type
Discussion
Information
Philosophy , Volume 51 , Issue 197 , July 1976 , pp. 349 - 352
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal Institute of Philosophy 1976

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

1 University of Queensland Press, St Lucia, Queensland, 1967, pp. 84–93.

2 Presumably if one were a materialist one might embrace a heart process thesis, or a liver process thesis, or something else of the sort. All these would be equally consistent with materialism. However, the only one of these theses that nowadays would be credited with having any degree of plausibility is the brain process thesis, and I shall disregard other possibilities. It should be noted that one could in principle accept the brain process thesis without being a thorough going materialist.

3 Ironically, Occam himself might have felt uncomfortable with this conclusion.