The Procedural Razor of Ockham From Negative Existentials to Ontological Redundancy

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Authors: Andrii Myshko
Cited by: 0

Abstract

Negative existential claims are in principle unverifiable. Any attempt to disprove existence leads to an endless regress into unobservable modalities, horizons, or reinterpretations. A significantly stronger strategy is proposed: instead of denying existence, demonstrate operational redundancy. An entity is eliminable from an ontology if its removal leaves predictions, explanations, process structures, and state discriminability unchanged. We introduce a formal criterion based on the difference operator ∆. Ontology is redefined as a dynamic revision circuit a network of operations that produce distinctions. The Procedural Razor of Ockham turns the classical principle of parsimony into a reproducible, safety-guaranteed revision protocol. The framework is applied to theology, Platonism, dualism, quantum mechanics, biology, physics, and consciousness studies. The outcome is a minimal working ontology of processes and operations.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Philosophy and Theoretical Science Philosophy Science and History Epistemology Ethics and Metaphysics

Publication details

Journal / source
PhilPapers (PhilPapers Foundation)
Publication date
13 February 2026
Language
EN