Simon Blackburn Quotes - Page 2

• Wittgenstein imagined that the philosopher was like a therapist whose task was to put problems finally to rest, and to cure us ofbeing bewitched by them. So we are told to stop, to shut off lines of inquiry, not to find things puzzling nor to seek explanations. This is intellectual suicide.

  Simon Blackburn

  Suicide, Philosophical, Intellectual

  Simon Blackburn (1993). “Essays in Quasi-Realism”, p.51, Oxford University Press

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• The scientific world is to be less threatening than was feared. It is to made safe for human beings. And the way to make it safe is to reflect on the foundation of knowledge.

  Simon Blackburn

  Foundation, World, Safe

  Simon Blackburn (1999). “Think: A Compelling Introduction to Philosophy”, p.15, Oxford University Press

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• Finding a mechanism does not bypass the problem of induction.

  Simon Blackburn

  Doe, Bypass, Problem

  Simon Blackburn (1999). “Think: A Compelling Introduction to Philosophy”, p.155, Oxford University Press

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• Induction is the process of taking things within our experience to be representative of the world outside our experience. It is a process of projection or extrapolation.

  Simon Blackburn

  World, Process, Projection

  Simon Blackburn (1999). “Think: A Compelling Introduction to Philosophy”, p.154, Oxford University Press

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• The absolutist lays down the law, but the relativist hears only roaring and bawling. Or, when the relativist voice, as it is heard from philosophers such as Nietzsche or James, itself starts to grate and sounds shrill, as it often does, and when the relativist then offers concessions, the absolutist hears only insincerity. The war of words can often turn into a dialogue of the deaf, and this too if part of its power to arouse outrage and fury.

  Simon Blackburn

  War, Law, Voice

  Simon Blackburn (2006). “Truth: A Guide for the Perplexed: A Guide for the Perplexed”, p.20, Penguin UK

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• The absolutist takes himself to read nature in her very own language, but the relativist insists that nature does not speak, and we hear only what we have elected to hear.

  Simon Blackburn

  Doe, Absolutism, Language

  Simon Blackburn (2005). “Truth: A Guide”, p.15, Oxford University Press

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• It is sometimes said that one of the casualties of the general suspicion and mistrust that permeated the old Soviet Union was that the distinction between truth and other motivations to believe tended to break down. Upon hearing a purported piece of information, the reaction was not 'Is this true?' but 'Why is this person saying this? - What machinations or manipulations are going on here?' The question of truth did not, as it were, have the social space in which it could breath.

  Simon Blackburn

  Motivation, Believe, Space

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• When the hoary old question of nature versus nurture comes around, sides form quickly.

  Simon Blackburn

  Sides, Nature Vs Nurture, Form

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• In Michigan recently a man won a lawsuit for substantial damages because, he claimed, a rear-end collision in his car had made him a homosexual.

  Simon Blackburn

  Men, Car, Michigan

  Simon Blackburn (1999). “Think: A Compelling Introduction to Philosophy”, p.74, Oxford University Press

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