O Occam's (or Ockham's) Razor 174 A principle attributed to the fourteenth century English logician and Franciscan friar, William of Ockham, which forms the basis of methodological reductionism. The principle states that elements which are not really needed should be pared back to produce something simpler and in doing so, the risk of introducing inconsistencies, ambiguities and redundancies will be reduced. Also called the principle of parsimony or law of economy.