thanks ockham razor article origins come known occam razor traceable works earlier philosophers john duns scotus thomas aquinas even aristotle charlesworth term occam razor first appeared works sir william rowan hamilton long ockham death circa ockham invent razor association may due frequency effectiveness used ariew though stated principle various ways popular version written john ponce cork thorburn count three external references unfortunately also google search site www wikipedia org unfortunately returns aristotle similar phrasing referring non extant treatise minimum would prefer removal unfortunately weaker rephrasing along lines unfortunately historians science internal wikilink ockham razor history thanks