Muslim Rationalism

No, despite what you sometimes hear from some Americans, many of whom should know better, this is not an oxymoron. Usually when someone wants to make this point they will point to the wonders of culture, art, and science created in Al-Andalus, Muslim Spain. That, however, came to an end centuries ago. What about today?

It is tempting sometimes to think that the Islamic world has descended into irrationality, and often enough Pakistan can be used as an example. So just for your amusement here is a little column by Irfan Husain, a Pakistani journalist I sometime read. He is, at the very least, rational.

He even cites William of Ockham, a medieval Christian monk!

An antidote to this kind of muddled thinking is Occam’s razor, a philosophical device popular in medieval Europe. Although it predates him, it is ascribed to William of Okham (1285-1349), a Franciscan monk who preached a philosophy of simplicity: “Plurality should not be posited without necessity.” Or in other words, all things being equal, the simplest solution is the best. Thus, by paring away the improbable, we are left with the most probable explanation for an event.

Nice touch. I use the 'razor' myself on occasion.