“The art of art, the glory of expression and the sunshine of the light of letters, is simplicity” (Whitman 1855 in Kaplan 1982) Walt Whitman exclaims and expresses his admiration for the virtue of simplicity. Many believe, that the simplest theory is the best and that it is simplicity, which reaches closest to truth and perfection such as Marcellinus Ammianus, who proclaims, that: “the language of truth is unadorned and always simple. ” (Ji zigou 2008)
Also Leonardo DaVinci expresses his admiration for the virtue of simplicity, declaring it to be “the ultimate sophistication” (The-four-laws-of-simplicity-and-how-to-apply-them-to-life 2008). It seems, that if a knower seeks simplicity he automatically heads towards perfection and truth and that simplicity is always superior to complexity. But isn’t this far too simplistic of a conclusion? It may be questioned how a complex world such as ours can be explained in simple terms and why simplicity is superior to complexity.
How valuable and reliable is a simplified observation or information and how far can we trust simplicity in order to find the truth? “Seek simplicity and distrust it,” the mathematician and philosopher Alfred North Whitehead proclaims and hence states that a knower should aspire to simplicity whilst he or she should be aware that a matter is always more complex than the simplified model leads us to believe. We shall seek simplicity as it enables us to understand reality and to detect ‘truth’ to a greater extent than possible otherwise.
However, a knower has to comprehend, that this has to be understood as a model and that the ‘reality’ is far more complex and that truth in this sense can never be detected. This essay will discuss the value, role and restrictions of simplification and, on the basis of this, investigate whether Whitehead’s statement can always be regarded to be good advice for a knower. Simplicity can be defined as “a simple state or quality, as of form or composition” creating “freedom from intricacy or complexity”. It may also be described as a “state of being without complication”, as “the quality of being plain.
” (Websters New World College 2005). When talking about simplicity we can do so in different ways depending on the stages of knowledge we are looking at. Albert Schweitzer’s observation, that “from naive simplicity we arrive at more profound simplicity”(QuotationLibrary 2004) can help us to understand that simplicity is not always the same. History can be used as an example: When studying the past as a history student, in order to obtain a basic understanding, one has to begin studying a topic at a simple and general level.
For example a student may learn that the implementation of the Appeasement policy towards Hitler had been a huge mistake. This may be defined as ‘nai?? ve’ simplicity as this information is very basic. The teacher may use this as a starting point for the study of the issue. Although this statement is not necessarily wrong, the student should be aware of the fact and use reason to understand that there could be more depth to the topic.
When proceeding with the study, the student will learn that there are arguments for the implementation of the Appeasement policy. The student will learn about the complexity of the history of Germany and England during this time and is now able to challenge the statement outlined above. He may finally conclude, that the implementation of appeasement policy was a mistake. He therefore uses reason to simplify complex thoughts and considerations and to develop a general hypothesis.
