Hitchens's razor is an epistemological principle, which was popularized by an english journalist Christopher Hitchens in his in 2007 first time published work God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything. Razor reads: "What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence." (Hitchens, 2008: 150) Razor determines that the burden of proof rests on the shoulders of those who assert something (state a thesis, assertion, conclusion). Razor was not invented by Hitchens, since it was a known logical principle, which can be traced back to Roman law. It was not until the modern era, which is characterized by strong religious tensions, that a secular and atheistic journalist, after whom the razor got its name, managed to popularize such a basic and sharp principle. This undergraduate thesis attempts to illuminate the development, meaning and use of Hitchens's razor. I will formulate a basic philosophical introduction to it's understanding, point out the opportunities for additional research and take a look at the role of Hitchens's razor in informal logic and public discourse.
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