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Goldsmiths College, University of London Richard Swinburne has, over the last two decades, built up what must count as one of the most fully developed philosophico-theological systems of the twentieth century. Its main unifying structural element is the claim âSimplex sigillum veriâ (âthe simple is the sign of the trueâ); Swinburne stresses âthe enormous ⦠not always appreciated ⦠importance of the criterion of simplicityâ, and declares it to be âa dominant themeâ of The Existence of God (EG1 55â6). It is said to be âthe crucial element determining prior probabilityâ (EG 82, cf. 90) in natural science, because âthe simpler a theory the greater its prior probabilityâ (EG 281). The claim has been repeated up to the present (e.g., FR 13ff., 38ff., CG 126, 155, 167, 170; ITG 30â1) with the most extensive account in the Evolution of the Soul, in which Swinburne writes: âOne can construct an infinite number of different theories compatible with [any] collection of data. Choices among such theories is determined by the Principle of Simplicity. Among such theories we take the simplest one as that most likely to be trueâ (ES 13). It is conceded that âany theory constructed from data by
The Heythrop Journal – Wiley
Published: Apr 1, 1999
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