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Simplicity is the state or quality of being
simple Simple or SIMPLE may refer to: *Simplicity, the state or quality of being simple Arts and entertainment * ''Simple'' (album), by Andy Yorke, 2008, and its title track * "Simple" (Florida Georgia Line song), 2018 * "Simple", a song by Johnn ...
. Something easy to understand or explain seems simple, in contrast to something complicated. Alternatively, as
Herbert A. Simon Herbert Alexander Simon (June 15, 1916 – February 9, 2001) was an American political scientist, with a Ph.D. in political science, whose work also influenced the fields of computer science, economics, and cognitive psychology. His primary ...
suggests, something is simple or complex depending on the way we choose to describe it. In some uses, the label "simplicity" can imply beauty, purity, or clarity. In other cases, the term may suggest a lack of nuance or complexity relative to what is required. The concept of simplicity is related to the field of
epistemology Epistemology (; ), or the theory of knowledge, is the branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge. Epistemology is considered a major subfield of philosophy, along with other major subfields such as ethics, logic, and metaphysics. Episte ...
and
philosophy of science Philosophy of science is a branch of philosophy concerned with the foundations, methods, and implications of science. The central questions of this study concern what qualifies as science, the reliability of scientific theories, and the ultim ...
(e.g., in
Occam's razor Occam's razor, Ockham's razor, or Ocham's razor ( la, novacula Occami), also known as the principle of parsimony or the law of parsimony ( la, lex parsimoniae), is the problem-solving principle that "entities should not be multiplied beyond neces ...
). Religions also reflect on simplicity with concepts such as
divine simplicity In theology, the doctrine of divine simplicity says that God is simple (without parts). The general idea can be stated in this way: The being of God is identical to the "attributes" of God. Characteristics such as omnipresence, goodness, trut ...
. In human
lifestyles Lifestyle often refers to: * Lifestyle (sociology), the way a person lives * ''Otium'', ancient Roman concept of a lifestyle * Style of life (german: Lebensstil, link=no), dealing with the dynamics of personality Lifestyle may also refer to: Bus ...
, simplicity can denote freedom from excessive possessions or distractions, such as having a
simple living Simple living refers to practices that promote simplicity in one's lifestyle. Common practices of simple living include reducing the number of possessions one owns, depending less on technology and services, and spending less money. Not only is ...
style.


Some other information

In some contextual uses, "simplicity" can imply beauty, purity, or clarity. In other cases, the term may have negative connotations, as when referring to people as
simpleton __NOTOC__ In folklore, a simpleton is a person whose foolish actions are the subject of often-repeated stories. Simpletons are also known as noodles, fools, and gothamites. Folklore often holds, with no basis in fact, that certain towns or countr ...
s.


In philosophy of science

The concept of simplicity has been related to in the field of
epistemology Epistemology (; ), or the theory of knowledge, is the branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge. Epistemology is considered a major subfield of philosophy, along with other major subfields such as ethics, logic, and metaphysics. Episte ...
and
philosophy of science Philosophy of science is a branch of philosophy concerned with the foundations, methods, and implications of science. The central questions of this study concern what qualifies as science, the reliability of scientific theories, and the ultim ...
. According to
Occam's razor Occam's razor, Ockham's razor, or Ocham's razor ( la, novacula Occami), also known as the principle of parsimony or the law of parsimony ( la, lex parsimoniae), is the problem-solving principle that "entities should not be multiplied beyond neces ...
, all other things being equal, the ''simplest'' theory is most likely true. In other words, simplicity is a meta-scientific criterion by which scientists evaluate competing theories. A distinction is often made by many persons. between two senses of simplicity:
syntactic simplicity Elegance is beauty that shows unusual effectiveness and simplicity. Elegance is frequently used as a standard of tastefulness, particularly in visual design, decorative arts, literature, science, and the aesthetics of mathematics. Elegant t ...
(the number and complexity of hypotheses), and
ontological simplicity Occam's razor, Ockham's razor, or Ocham's razor ( la, novacula Occami), also known as the principle of parsimony or the law of parsimony ( la, lex parsimoniae), is the problem-solving principle that "entities should not be multiplied beyond neces ...
(the number and complexity of things postulated). These two aspects of simplicity are often referred to as elegance and
parsimony Parsimony refers to the quality of economy or frugality in the use of resources. Parsimony may also refer to * The Law of Parsimony, or Occam's razor, a problem-solving principle ** Maximum parsimony (phylogenetics), an optimality criterion in p ...
respectively.
John von Neumann John von Neumann (; hu, Neumann János Lajos, ; December 28, 1903 – February 8, 1957) was a Hungarian-American mathematician, physicist, computer scientist, engineer and polymath. He was regarded as having perhaps the widest cove ...
defines simplicity as an important esthetic criterion of scientific models:


In religion

Simplicity is a theme in the
Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
religion. According to St. Thomas Aquinas, God is infinitely simple. The Roman Catholic and Anglican religious orders of
Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...
s also strive for personal simplicity. Members of the
Religious Society of Friends Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...
(Quakers) practice the Testimony of Simplicity, which involves simplifying one's
life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energ ...
to focus on what is important and disregard or avoid what is least important. Simplicity is tenet of Anabaptistism, and some
Anabaptist Anabaptism (from New Latin language, Neo-Latin , from the Greek language, Greek : 're-' and 'baptism', german: Täufer, earlier also )Since the middle of the 20th century, the German-speaking world no longer uses the term (translation: "Re- ...
groups like the Bruderhof, make an effort to live simply.


Lifestyle

In the context of human lifestyle, simplicity can denote freedom from excessive material consumption and psychological distractions.


See also

*
Concision Concision (also called brevity, laconicism, or conciseness) is a writing principle of eliminating redundancy.UNT Writing Lab. "Concision, Clarity, and Cohesion." Accessed June 19, 2012Link./ref> For example, this: * "It is a fact that most argum ...
*
Complexity Complexity characterises the behaviour of a system or model whose components interaction, interact in multiple ways and follow local rules, leading to nonlinearity, randomness, collective dynamics, hierarchy, and emergence. The term is generall ...
* Degree of difficulty * Elegance * KISS principle *
Minimalism In visual arts, music and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in post–World War II in Western art, most strongly with American visual arts in the 1960s and early 1970s. Prominent artists associated with minimalism include Don ...
*
Occam's razor Occam's razor, Ockham's razor, or Ocham's razor ( la, novacula Occami), also known as the principle of parsimony or the law of parsimony ( la, lex parsimoniae), is the problem-solving principle that "entities should not be multiplied beyond neces ...
*
Simple living Simple living refers to practices that promote simplicity in one's lifestyle. Common practices of simple living include reducing the number of possessions one owns, depending less on technology and services, and spending less money. Not only is ...
* Simplicity theory * Simplification (disambiguation) * Testimony of Simplicity *
Worse is better Worse is better (also called the New Jersey style) is a term conceived by Richard P. Gabriel in an essay of the same name to describe the dynamics of software acceptance. It refers to the argument that software quality does not necessarily increas ...
*
John Maeda John Maeda (born 1966) is a Vice President of Design and Artificial Intelligence at Microsoft. He is an American technologist and designer whose work explores where business, design, and technology merge to make space for the "humanist technolo ...
– 10 Laws of Simplicity


Notes


References

* Craig, E. Ed. (1998) Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy. London, Routledge. simplicity (in Scientific Theory) p. 780–783 * Dancy, J. and Ernest Sosa, Ed.(1999) A Companion to Epistemology. Malden, Massachusetts, Blackwell Publishers Inc. simplicity p. 477–479. * Dowe, D. L., S. Gardner & G. Oppy (2007),
Bayes not Bust! Why Simplicity is no Problem for Bayesians

Br. J. Philos. Sci.
Vol. 58, Dec. 2007, 46pp.
MML MML can stand for: Academia *Master of Modern Languages, an undergraduate degree offered by the University of Manchester, which includes the study of two modern languages to Master's level *Medieval and Modern Languages, an undergraduate degree off ...
with Akaike information criterion">AIC AIC may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Alice in Chains, American rock band * Alice in Chains: AIC 23, a 2013 mockumentary * Anime International Company, a Japanese animation studio * Art Institute of Chicago, an art museum in Chicago Busin ...
.] * Edwards, P., Ed. (1967). The Encyclopedia of Philosophy. New York, The Macmillan Company. simplicity p. 445–448. * Hickey, Rich (2011
Simple Made Easy
* Kim, J. a. E. S., Ed.(2000). A Companion to Metaphysics. Oxford, Blackwell Publishers. simplicity, parsimony p. 461–462. * Maeda, J., (2006
Laws of Simplicity
MIT Press * Newton-Smith, W. H., Ed. (2001). A Companion to the Philosophy of Science. Malden, Massachusetts, Blackwell Publishers Ltd. simplicity p. 433–441. * Richmond, Samuel A.(1996)
A Simplification of the Theory of Simplicity
, Synthese 107 373–393. * Sarkar, S. Ed. (2002). The Philosophy of Science—An Encyclopedia. London, Routledge. simplicity * Schmölders, Claudia (1974). Simplizität, Naivetät, Einfalt – Studien zur ästhetischen Terminologie in Frankreich und in Deutschland, 1674–1771
PDF, 37MB
* Scott, Brian(1996)
Technical Notes on a Theory of Simplicity
, Synthese 109 281–289. * Simon, Herbert A (1962
The Architecture of Complexity
Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 106, 467–482. * Wilson, R. A. a. K., Frank C., (1999). The MIT Encyclopedia of the Cognitive Sciences. Cambridge, Massachusetts, The MIT Press. parsimony and simplicity p. 627–629. * If Not God, Then What? (2007) by Joshua Fost, p. 93


External links


Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry
{{epistemology Abstraction Simple living Razors (philosophy)