OCKHAM’S EPONYMOUS RAZOR IS STILL as incisive as it was when first wielded by the English friar and scholastic philosopher six centuries ago. William of Ockham (1287–1347, below) was a pioneer of the theory of knowledge and the great proponent of nominalism, arguing that universal concepts were merely names, not realities.
No historian wields Ockham’s razor more effectively than J.C.D. Clark. Clark upholds the Peterhouse High Tory view: the inextinguishable influence of Christianity on “public doctrine” is denigrated or ignored by a secularised scholarly establishment. Hence the latter deserves to be dispatched without mercy. If Cowling was the Sweeney Todd of the historical profession, Clark has raised the dissection of progressive priggishness to an art form.
In his last book, Clark demonstrated that Tom Paine, hero of progressive causes on…
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The Critic (Digital) - 1 Issue, October 2024