Philosophy Of Science Quotes

• Philosophy of science without history of science is empty; history of science without philosophy of science is blind.

  Imre Lakatos

  Philosophy, Blind, Empty

  Imre Lakatos (1978). “Philosophical Papers”

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  All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them.

  Galileo Galilei

  Inspirational, Truth, Science

  "Angels in the workplace: stories and inspirations for creating a new world of work". Book by Melissa Giovagnoli, 1999.

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• Science was born as a result and consequence of philosophy; it cannot survive without a philosophical base. If philosophy perishes, science will be next to go.

  Ayn Rand

  Philosophy, Philosophical, Science

  Ayn Rand (1963). “For the New Intellectual: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand”

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• A scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it.

  Max Planck

  Death, Truth, Growing Up

  Scientific Autobiography, and Other Papers "Scientific Autobiography" (1948) (translation by Frank Gaynor)

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• It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.

  Aristotle

  Inspirational, Motivational, Leadership

  Attributed to Aristotle in "Religion and the Pursuit of Truth" by Lowell Lindsay Bennion, p. 52, 1959.

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• The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatever that it is not utterly absurd.

  Bertrand Russell

  Education, Truth, Religion

  Marriage and Morals ch. 5 (1929)

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• Science is the great antidote to the poison of enthusiasm and superstition.

  Adam Smith

  Science, Flames, Enthusiasm

  The Wealth of Nations Bk V, Ch. 1

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• The discovery of truth is prevented more effectively, not by the false appearance things present and which mislead into error, not directly by weakness of the reasoning powers, but by preconceived opinion, by prejudice.

  Arthur Schopenhauer

  Science, Power, Errors

  "Counsels and Maxims". Book by Arthur Schopenhauer, Vol. 2, Ch. 1, § 17, 2007.

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• When you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it.

  Lord Kelvin

  Math, Science, Numbers

  Popular Lectures and Addresses "Electrical Units of Measurement" (1889).

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• The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatever that it is not utterly absurd; indeed in view of the silliness of the majority of mankind, a widely spread belief is more likely to be foolish than sensible.

  Bertrand Russell

  Learning, Knowledge, Parenting

  Marriage and Morals ch. 5 (1929)

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• Philosophy of science is about as useful to scientists as ornithology is to birds.

  Richard P. Feynman

  Philosophy, Science, Engineering

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• Philosophy is a battle against the bewitchment of our intelligence by means of language.

  Ludwig Wittgenstein

  Philosophy, Philosophical, Mean

  Garth Hallett, Ludwig Wittgenstein (1977). “A companion to Wittgenstein's "Philosophical investigations"”, Cornell Univ Pr

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• In science it often happens that scientists say, 'You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken,' and then they would actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion.

  Carl Sagan

  Change, Learning, Humility

  Keynote address at CSICOP conference in 1987. "Do Science and the Bible Conflict?" Book by Judson Poling, p. 30, 2003.

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• The philosophies of one age have become the absurdities of the next, and the foolishness of yesterday has become the wisdom of tomorrow.

  William Osler

  Birthday, Truth, Philosophy

  Sir William Osler, Mark E. Silverman, T. J. Murray, Charles S. Bryan, American College of Physicians--American Society of Internal Medicine (2003). “The Quotable Osler”, p.18, ACP Press

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• If you are only skeptical, then no new ideas make it through to you.

  Carl Sagan

  Science, Acceptance, Ideas

  Carl Sagan (2011). “Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark”, p.391, Ballantine Books

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• The philosophy of science is inherent in the process. This is to say, you think critically, you draw a conclusion based on evidence, but we all pursue discovery based on our observations. That's where science starts.

  Bill Nye

  Philosophy, Thinking, Discovery

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• I fully agree with you about the significance and educational value of as well as history and philosophy of science. So many people today - and even professional - seem to me like someone who has seen thousands of trees but has never seen a forest. A knowledge of the historic and philosophical background gives that kind of independence from prejudices of his generation from which most scientists are suffering. This independence created by philosophical insight is - in my opinion - the mark of distinction between a mere artisan or specialist and a real seeker after truth.

  Albert Einstein

  Philosophy, Real, Educational

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• The universe is not only queerer than we suppose; it is queerer than we can suppose

  Bill Bryson

  Funny, Knowledge, Science

  Bill Bryson (2014). “A Short History of Nearly Everything”, p.20, Lulu Press, Inc

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• There is something fascinating about science. One gets such wholesale returns of conjecture out of such a trifling investment of fact.

  Mark Twain

  Math, Science, Return

  Life on the Mississippi ch. 17 (1883)

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• In science it often happens that scientists say, "You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken..."

  Carl Sagan

  Change, Science, Theoretical Physics

  Keynote address at CSICOP conference, 1987.

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• I often say that when you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it; but when you cannot measure it, when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meagre and unsatisfactory kind.

  Lord Kelvin

  Math, Science, Numbers

  Popular Lectures and Addresses "Electrical Units of Measurement" (1889).

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• I know that most men, including those at ease with problems of the greatest complexity, can seldom accept even the simplest and most obvious truth if it be such as would oblige them to admit the falsity of conclusions which they have delighted in explaining to colleagues, which they have proudly taught to others, and which they have woven, thread by thread, into the fabric of their lives.

  Leo Tolstoy

  Truth, Lying, Science

  "What is Art?". Book by Leo Tolstoy, Ch. 14, 1897.

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• Philosophy is true mother of the arts [of science].

  Marcus Tullius Cicero

  Mother, Art, Philosophy

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• I would say to anybody who thinks that all the problems in philosophy can be translated into empirically verifiable answers - whether it be a Lawrence Krauss thinking that physics is rendering philosophy obsolete or a Sam Harris thinking that neuroscience is rendering moral philosophy obsolete - that it takes an awful lot of philosophy - philosophy of science in the first case, moral philosophy in the second - even to demonstrate the relevance of these empirical sciences.

  Rebecca Goldstein

  Philosophy, Thinking, Answers

  "Interview with Rebecca Goldstein on Plato at the Googleplex, philosophy for the public, and everything". Interview with Ophelia Benson, www.butterfliesandwheels.org. March 20, 2014.

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• Zero is powerful because it is infinity’s twin. They are equal and opposite, yin and
  yang. They are equally paradoxical and troubling. The biggest questions in science
  and religion are about nothingness and eternity, the void and the infinite, zero and
  infinity. The clashes over zero were the battles that shook the foundations of philosophy,
  of science, of mathematics, and of religion. Underneath every revolution lay a
  zero – and an infinity.

  Charles Seife

  Zero, Powerful, Philosophy

  Charles Seife (2000). “Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea”, p.2, Penguin

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