Quotes About Philosophy

It will for ever remain one of the greatest triumphs of Athenian democracy that it treated slaves humanely, and that in spite of the inhuman propaganda of philosophers like Plato himself and Aristotle it came, as he witnesses, very close to abolishing slavery.

Some philosophers have made a virtue of talking to themselves; perhaps because they felt that there was nobody else worth talking to. I fear that the practice of philosophizing on this somewhat exalted plane may be a symptom of the decline of rational discussion. No doubt God talks mainly to Himself because He has no one worth talking to. But a philosopher should know that he is no more godlike that any other man. (pp xx)

Heraclitean philosophy one of the less commendable characteristics of historicism manifests itself, namely, an over-emphasis upon change, combined with the complementary belief in an inexorable and immutable law of destiny.

The book is a new philosophy of politics and of history, and an examination of the principles of democratic reconstruction. It also tries to contribute to an understanding of the totalitarian revolt against civilization, and to show that this is as old as our democratic civilization itself.

While differing widely in the various little bits we know, in our infinite ignorance we are all equal.

The war of ideas is a Greek invention. It is one of the most important inventions ever made. Indeed, the possibility of fighting with with words and ideas instead of fighting with swords is the very basis of our civilization, and especially of all its legal and parliamentary institutions.

The wise man belongs to all countries, for the home of a great soul is the whole world.

History has no meaning.

I hold that he who teaches that not reason but love should rule opens up the way for those who rule by hate.

Science must begin with myths, and with the criticism of myths.

And it implies that if we respect truth, we must search for it by persistently searching for our errors: by indefatigable rational criticism, and self-criticism.

Theology, I still think, is due to lack of faith.

The quest for precision is analogous to the quest for certainty, and both should be abandoned.

I wish to make it clear that 'history' in the sense in which most people speak of it simply does not exist; and this is at least one reason why I say that it has no meaning.

Plato summarizes his reply to equalitarianism in the formula: 'Equal treatment of unequals must beget inequity'20; and this was developed by Aristotle into the formula 'Equality for equals, inequality for unequals'. This formula indicates what may be termed the standard objection to equalitarianism; the objection that equality would be excellent if only men were equal, but that it is manifestly impossible since they are not equal, and since they cannot be made equal.

El lenguaje produce sus propios problemas, sus propias tensiones, sus propios retos y, por tanto, su propia selección, tanto natural como crítica.

The prophetic element in Marx's creed was dominant in the minds of his followers. It swept everything else aside, banishing the power of cool and critical judgement and destroying the belief that by the use of reason we may change the world. All that remained of Marx's teaching was the oracular philosophy of Hegel, which in its Marxist trappings threatens to paralyse the struggle for the open society.

The Vienna Circle was empiricist and phenomenalist, Popper was a critical rationalist.

Relativism is one of the many crimes committed by intellectuals. It is a betrayal of reason and of humanity.

The reality of time and change seemed to me the crux of realism.

I believe I learned more about the theory of knowledge from my dear omniscient master Adalbert Pösch than from any other of my teachers. None did so much to turn me into a disciple of Socrates. For it was my master who taught me not only how very little I knew but also that any wisdom to which I might ever aspire could consist only in realizing more fully the infinity of my ignorance.

It has been indicated above that because of its self-sufficiency, the ideal state appears to Plato as the perfect individual, and the individual citizen, accordingly, as an imperfect copy of the state.

I conjecture that the origin of life and the origin of problems coincide.

The task of the theologian is to explain everything through God, and to explain God as unexplainable.