Word.ws English Dictionary

Newton's flaming laser sword

Newton's flaming laser sword proper noun: a philosophical razor which states that propositions or claims that cannot be resolved through experiment or observation are not worth debating.

Proper noun

Newton's flaming laser sword

  1. A philosophical razor which states that propositions or claims that cannot be resolved through experiment or observation are not worth debating.
    • Mathematicians and scientists feel that they have found a more difficult but much more satisfying game to play. Newton's Flaming Laser Sword is one of the rules of that game.2004, Mike Alder, “Newton's Flaming Laser Sword, Or: Why Mathematicians and Scientists don't like Philosophy but do it anyway”, in Philosophy now, volume 46, archived from the original on 14 Nov...
    • Also, I invoke Newton's Flaming Laser Sword on this thread.2010 October 25, "Valhallen", “Re: The meaning of the universe explained by Jesus”, in Snafu Comics, retrieved 05 Dec 2011
    Synonyms:
    Alder's razor, NFLS

Examples of Newton's flaming laser sword in a sentence

  • I prefer to be anti-religion and live by Newton's flaming laser sword, Occam's Razor and Hanlon's Razor.2011 January 5, "Arkhanno", “Re: Atheists don't know how to reason”, in I Wanna Be The Forums, retrieved 05 Dec 2011:
  • So, we remove such variables using the Newton's Flaming Laser Sword.2011 January 8, "Azwraith", “Atheism - Belief? Religion? (comment)”, in Minegarde, retrieved 05 Dec 2011:
  • Just demanding there is nothing you can do, because the flashy light told you so is grounds for Newton's Flaming Laser Sword.2011 July 19, "Drastic", “Thought Experiment Regarding Morality (comment)”, in That Guy With the Glasses, retrieved 05 Dec 2011:

Synonyms of Newton's flaming laser sword

Forms of Newton's flaming laser sword

alternative formNewton's laser sword

Origin of Newton's flaming laser sword

Named after Isaac Newton. Coined by Australian mathematician and philosopher Mike Alder in 2004 in an article of the same title, to be hyperbolically “much sharper and more dangerous than Occam's razor”.

Questions about Newton's flaming laser sword

What does Newton's flaming laser sword mean?
Newton's flaming laser sword means a philosophical razor which states that propositions or claims that cannot be resolved through experiment or observation are not worth debating.
How do you use Newton's flaming laser sword in a sentence?
I prefer to be anti-religion and live by Newton's flaming laser sword, Occam's Razor and Hanlon's Razor.
What part of speech is Newton's flaming laser sword?
Newton's flaming laser sword is a proper noun.

Words near Newton's flaming laser sword in the dictionary

  1. Newton's apple
  2. Newton's apples
  3. Newton's Cradle
  4. Newton's Cradles
  5. Newton's first law
  6. Newton's flaming laser sword
  7. Newton's laser sword
  8. Newton's method
  9. Newton's rings
  10. Newton's second law
  11. Newton's third law

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Newton's flaming laser sword (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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