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On Ockham's Razor And Gulf Ills - Online Term Papers

On Ockham's Razor And Gulf Ills

The analytic instrument we feel most comfortable wielding, journalistically,
in exploring the cause of Gulf Syndrome is Ockham's Razor. It is named for,
but apparently was not quite explicitly stated in the writings of English
philosopher William of Ockham (circa 1300-1349). Also called the Principle
of Parsimony, it states that: "Entities are not to be multiplied beyond
necessity."

The meaning, as explained in philosophical dictionaries, is that the razor
cuts away useless or gratuitous ideas in explaining a phenomenon. One
should accept, rather, the simplest hypothesis that can explain the data.

In the elucidation of diseases and their causes, the less that is known
about an illness ...

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warfare agents
Chemical warfare agents
Depleted uranium in shells, armor
Infectious diseases
Oil-well fires
Pesticides
Petroleum products
Stress
Pyridostigmine bromide as an antidote to poison gas
Vaccines

Several of these putative causes, such as oil-well fires, can be eliminated
if, as Katherine Leisure finds, some servicemen and women who suffer from
the syndrome were long gone from the Gulf before combat started and Iraq
fired the wells.

Per Ockham's Razor, we think infectious diseases is the simplest hypothesis
at the moment, and leishmaniasis the best candidate among them. If there is
more than one cause, which we doubt, researchers will have to identify
first one, and then a second (or more) cause(s), and, finally, elucidate a
method for differentiating between them case-by-case. - Q.E.D. ...

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On Ockham's Razor And Gulf Ills. (2005, January 7). Retrieved December 23, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/On-Ockhams-Razor-And-Gulf-Ills/20175

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"On Ockham's Razor And Gulf Ills." Essayworld.com. January 7, 2005. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/On-Ockhams-Razor-And-Gulf-Ills/20175.

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PAPER DETAILS

Added: 1/7/2005 03:22:18 AM
Category: Health & Medicine
Type: Premium Paper
Words: 311
Pages: 2

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