Newton's flaming laser sword
English
Etymology
Named after Isaac Newton. Coined by Australian mathematician Mike Alder in a 2004 article of the same title, to be hyperbolically "much sharper and more dangerous than Occam's Razor".
Proper noun
- A philosophical razor which states that what cannot be settled by experiment is not worth debating.
- 2004, Alder, Mike, “Newton's Flaming Laser Sword, Or: Why Mathematicians and Scientists don't like Philosophy but do it anyway”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name):
- Mathematicians and scientists feel that they have found a more difficult but much more satisfying game to play. Newton's Flaming Laser Sword is one of the rules of that game.
- 2011 January 5, Arkhanno, “Re: Atheists don't know how to reason”, in I Wanna Be The Forums, retrieved 2011-12-05:
- I prefer to be anti-religion and live by Newton's flaming laser sword, Occam's Razor and Hanlon's Razor.
- 2011 September 12, Decivre, “Open thread on Episode #726 (comment)”, in The Atheist Experience, retrieved 2011-12-05:
- Put as much math as you want to it, and it's still a philosophical statement... to which I say that Newton's Flaming Laser Sword is the best response: "what cannot be settled by experiment is not worth debating".
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Abbreviations
Synonyms
See also
Further reading
- Alder, Mike (2004), “Newton's Flaming Laser Sword”, in Philosophy Now, issue 46, ISSN 0961-5970, pages 29–33
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