Quotes About Philosophy

The above proposition is occasionally useful.

If any one asks: 'Why should I accept the results of valid arguments based on true premisses?' we can only answer by appealing to our principle. In fact, the truth of the principle is impossible to doubt, and its obviousness is so great that at first sight it seems almost trivial. Such principles, however, are not trivial to the philosopher, for they show that we may have indubitable knowledge which is in no way derived from objects of sense. The

Throughout the long period of religious doubt, I had been rendered very unhappy by the gradual loss of belief, but when the process was completed, I found to my surprise that I was quite glad to be done with the whole subject.

Hegel thought that, if enough was known about a thing to distinguish it from all other things, then all its properties could be inferred by logic. This was a mistake, and from this mistake arose the whole edifice of his system. This illustrates an important truth, namely, that the worse your logic, the more interesting the consequences.

American Conservatives maintain that the finished character of a grown man is mainly due to congenital characteristics, while American Radicals maintain, on the contrary, that education is everything and heredity nothing. I cannot agree with either of these two extreme positions, nor

El problema nace de la filosofía de la vida que todos han recibido, según la cual la vida es una contienda, una competición, en la que solo el vencedor merece respeto. Esta visión de la vida conduce a un cultivo exagerado de la voluntad, a expensas de los sentidos y del intelecto

is clear that human knowledge must always be content to accept some terms as intelligible without definition

Hegel thought of the universe as a closely knit unity. His universe was like a jelly in the fact that, if you touched any one part of it, the whole quivered; but it was unlike a jelly in the fact that it could not really be cut up into parts. The appearance of consisting of parts, according to him, was a delusion.

This seems plainly absurd; but whoever wishes to become a philosopher must learn not to be frightened by absurdities.

Între teologie ÅŸi ÅŸtiin?? exist? îns? un No Man's Land, expus atacurilor din ambele p?rÅ£i; acest teritoriu intermediar este cel al filozofiei.

The fundamental principle in the analysis of propositions containing descriptions is this: Every proposition which we can understand must be composed wholly of constituents with which we are acquainted.

The demand for certainty is an intellectual vice.

the circumstances of men's lives do much to determine their philosophy, but, conversely, their philosophy does much to determine their circumstances.

In daily life, we assume as certain many things which, on a closer scrutiny, are found to be so full of apparent contradictions that only a great amount of thought enables us to know what it is that we really may believe.

We might state the argument by which they support their view in some such way as this: 'Whatever can be thought of is an idea in the mind of the person thinking of it; therefore nothing can be thought of except ideas in minds; therefore anything else is inconceivable, and what is inconceivable cannot exist.

very many philosophers, perhaps a majority, have held that there is nothing real except minds and their ideas. Such philosophers are called 'idealists'.

I suspect that even the Universe, as considered by metaphysics, involves such a connexion with particulars. In logic, on the contrary, where we are concerned not merely with what does exist, but with whatever might or could exist or be, no reference to actual particulars is involved.

My whole religion is this: do every duty, and expect no reward for it, either here or hereafter.

Um homem sábio desfrutará os bens que há em abundância, e de lixo intelectual encontrará abundante dieta, no nosso tempo como em qualquer outro.

Morala curent? este un amestec bizar de utilitarism È™i superstiÈ›ie, unde îns?, cum e È™i firesc, precump?neÈ™te componenta superstiÈ›ioas?, de vreme ce superstiÈ›ia se afl? la obârÈ™ia regulilor morale.

The belief or unconscious conviction that all propositions are of the subject-predicate form-in other words, that every fact consists of some thing having some quality-has rendered most philosophers incapable of giving any account of the world of science and daily life.

Any theory on the principles of mathematics must always be inductive i.e. it must lie in the fact that the theory in question enables us to deduce ordinary mathematics.

William James used to preach the "will to believe." For my part, I should wish to preach the "will to doubt." None of our beliefs are quite true; all have at least a penumbra of vagueness and error.

KuÅŸkuculuk ac? verici olabilir, k?s?r olabilir ama en az?ndan dürüsttür ve hakikat aray???n?n bir sonucudur. Belki de geçici bir evre olabilir ama içinde bulunduÄŸumuz çaÄŸdan daha büyük aptall?klar?n yaÅŸand??? bir ça??n ?skartaya ç?km?? inançlar?na geri dönerek daha hakiki bir kaç?? olana?? yaratmak mümkün deÄŸildir.