Quotes About Reasoning

He who refuses to do arithmetic is doomed to talk nonsense.

Philosophy ought to imitate the successful sciences in its methods, so far as to proceed only from tangible premises which can be subjected to careful scrutiny, and to trust rather to the multitude and variety of its arguments than to the conclusiveness to any one. Its reasoning should not form a chain which is no stronger than its weakest link, but a cable whose fibres may be ever so slender, provided they are sufficiently numerous and intimately connected. (Peirce 1992, p. 29)

I use logic all the time in mathematics, and it seems to yield "correct" results, but in mathematics "correct" by and large means "logical", so I'm back where I started. I can't defend logic because I can't remove my glasses.

In particular the rules of logic tell us how to create, from the opening arrangement (the list of axioms), new arrangements (called "theorems").

It has been said that geometry is the art of applying good reasoning to bad diagrams.

I'm not a huge fan of other people's logic.

Whenever you commend, add a compelling reason for doing so; it is this which distinguishes the approbation of a man of sense from the flattery of sycophants and the admiration of fools.

To formulate questions that probe thinking in a disciplined and productive way, we need to understand thinking—how it works and how it should be assessed. It is critical thinking that provides the tools for doing this, for analyzing and assessing reasoning. This is why understanding critical thinking is essential to effective Socratic dialogue.

The function of generalizations is quite simple. Without generalizations we could not explain anything. Things would occur around us for no reason that we could fathom. We would stand around in a stupor, unable to relate anything to anything else, for a generalization is simply a way to take some set of things (that we don't understand) and compare them with something we do understand by means of some "abstract" words.

Animal behavior is not purely emotional. Nor is human decision-making purely rational.

our essential process for making a decision still relies on emotion.

Ar trebui s? ne preÅ£uim mintea dup? atitudinea pe care o lu?m în situaÅ£ii limit?, când ea se str?duieÅŸte s? g?seasc? o cale de ieÅŸire în momentele de criz? suprem?. Atunci când raÅ£iunea trebuie s? treac? peste pr?pastia morÅ£ii, faÅ£ada ateismului, aproape întotdeauna, se pr?buÅŸeÅŸte.

As human beings, it's essential that we keep the future human. Even if we manage to build artificial general intelligence, its reasoning can never fully align with human values. Nonhuman perspectives are only a benefit if they inform rather than impose decision making."

Dmitri was at a total loss. It was a common reaction for people when I agreed to do something reasonable.

It was the most convulted, ridiculous piece of logic I'd heard in awhile... It was something I would have come up with.

Victor smiled through the pain and the blood. "Of course you have. I used to think Belikov was the savage one, but it's really you, isn't it? You're the animal with no control, no higher reasoning except to fight and kill.

Why would anybody become a Christian?" That's a question lots of people have—educated, reasonable, modern people who find becoming a Christian an "explosive," not to mention an inconceivable, thing to do.

Hendrick, I have explained these matters to you because it is useless to punish a man unless he knows why he is being punished.

The practical reason for continuing our system is the same as the practical reason for continuing anything: It works satisfactorily. "Nevertheless

This school is based on the idea that a man who can think correctly will automatically behave morally—or

everything of any importance is founded on mathematics.

One night I had been forced to reason with my darling; Hilda felt that I should lead our little band. I was oldest

The Prover is a much simpler mechanism. It operates on one law only: Whatever the Thinker thinks, the Prover proves.

The only drug I have ever been addicted to was nicotine, which I have quit five times in the last 20 years. Speaking from experience, I must say that Crowley has great understanding of the addict mentality and the way the biological need for the drug can generate "reasons" that almost seem rational at the time. Writing down the reasons for taking another cigarette, Crowley fashion, I have found is a real help in recognizing their self-deceiving quality and really quitting.