Thursday 11 April 2013

Does Ockham's Razor get you to the Best P'shat?

See Mishnah D'mai 7:7

No doubt this is a complex Mishnah! And Pinchas Kehatti spills a lot of ink in his peirush on this Mishnah

At the end he appends a comment that he followed Tiferet Yisra'el, because his peirush was the simplest and then he sends you to see others Viz. Rambam, Bartenura, and Mishnah Rishonah which are more difficult.

This begs the question -

Did Kehatti choose the simplest because it is most likely to be the best - a la Ochkam's Razor?
Or
Did he simply choose the simplest in order to simplify his Peirush regardless of which sheetah was best?


Best Regards,
RRW

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