Quotes About Philosophy

On the one hand philosophy is like any other human endeavour, situated within and confined by the context of its day and yet on the other hand, it tries to wrestle with and expand the boundaries of current thought.

Interestingly, Spinoza's philosophy is both mystical, rational and theistic. Yet he was excommunicated from the Jewish community for his views, denounced as an atheist by Christians and declared so wicked that at one time his books were publicly burnt. Leibniz, who owes a great deal to him, rarely acknowledges the debt. Despite the rigour and integrity of his work, Spinoza remains one of the lesser studied and least regarded of all the rationalist philosophers.

a distinction that philosophers have proposed between "epistemic" and "aleatory" uncertainty.

It is not at all peculiar to contemporary man to "come of age"; it was found already in Eden. Adam and Eve revolted against the will of God in pursuit of individual preference and self-interest. But their revolt was recognized to be sin, not rationalized as philosophical "gnosis" at the frontiers of evolutionary advance.

A philosophy that cannot be lived is no philosophy at all.

Religion in art was a subtle business, best handled indirectly.

Oxford was in love with the idea of Christian perfection.

They could simply not accept that there might be no God, precisely because that would mean that life was not inherently meaningful. In their heart of hearts they were unwilling to confront the possibility that they themselves, the vast universe of every individual consciousness, could be as meaningless and as random as a leaf whirled into the air by a gust of wind. The

In other words, it makes no difference whether one believes in God. As there is no way of proving or disproving the object of this belief, it remains a personal choice, much like a preference for a particular dish or for strong coffee. You may believe what you want, as long as it helps you live. This

You ask a philosopher a question and after he or she has talked for a bit, you don't understand your question any more.

If the Martians take the writings of moral philosophers as a guide to what goes on on this planet they will get a shock when they arrive.

Anyone who thinks about it can see that for human beings the teaching and following of morality is something necessary.

These people no doubt became more common in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and judging from La Fontaine, those who tried to cheat death were found primarily among the old: He who most resembles the dead is the most reluctant to die. Eighteenth-century

fundamental truth: that in the end, death is only a matter between you and yourself?

Dis Papa, c'est quoi le mal? C'est la bêtise des hommes qui parfois vont se perdre Dans de sentiers de pierre Et prennent des cailloux pour les lancer en l'air

Aunque sepa que un día morirá, el hombre no puede vivir continuamente en un mundo que no le devuelve más que la conciencia de su propia muerte, un mundo saturado de muerte y que sólo ha sido ideado para eso.

Cuando le pregunté si no le pesaba la soledad, se quedó pensando un buen rato y luego, con voz grave y serena dijo: «Estar solo es el sino del hombre, de un modo u otro». Me pareció una frase muy hermosa y muy falsa a la vez. Tú no estás a mi lado, pero es como si te sintiera junto a mí a cada segundo, y te hablo a menudo, en voz alta.

Qué es la vida sino un collar de heridas que cada hombre se cuelga del cuello?

Some theists in evolutionary science acquiesce to these tacit rules and retain a personal faith while accepting a thoroughly naturalistic picture of physical reality.

If modernist naturalism were true, there would be no objective truth outside of science. In that case right and wrong would be a matter of cultural preference, or political power, and the power already available to modernists ideologies would be overwhelming.

No doubt it is true that science cannot study God, but it hardly follows that God had to keep a safe distance from everything that scientists want to study.

Evolutionary naturalism takes the inherent limitations of science and turns them into a devastating philosophical weapon: because science is our only real way of knowing anything, what science cannot know cannot be real.

In short, it is not that evolutionary naturalists have been less brazen than the scientific creationists in holding science hostage, but rather that they have been infinitely more effective in getting away with it.

As students grow more and more accustomed to assuming materialism and naturalism in their academic work, the concept of creation by God gradually tends to become less real to them. It is not so much that any single finding undermines their faith; rather, the day-to-day practice of thinking in naturalistic terms about academic subjects makes it awkward to think differently when it comes to religion.