Harman, Gilbert

"The concept of essence may be more useful pragmatically than metaphysically."

"Truth conditions alone do not determine the full meaning of sentences."

"Philosophical progress consists partly in recognizing which questions are soluble."

"The relationship between language and thought is more complex than Whorf suggested."

"Moral disagreement often reflects differences in how we weigh competing values."

"The concept of a possible world is useful for modal reasoning but metaphysically puzzling."

"Beliefs are individuated partly by their causal roles in the cognitive economy."

"The challenge of explaining consciousness may require conceptual revision."

"Linguistic meaning emerges from use rather than being fixed antecedently."

"Understanding involves grasping why something is the case, not just that it is."

"The distinction between appearance and reality is fundamental to understanding how we interpret the world around us."

"Moral judgment cannot be separated from the psychological mechanisms that produce our intuitions about right and wrong."

"Language shapes our thoughts more profoundly than we typically acknowledge in our everyday reasoning."

"Common sense serves as a baseline for philosophical inquiry, even when it must ultimately be revised."

"The problem of other minds suggests we can never fully know another person's inner experience."

"Internalism about moral reasons creates a puzzle about how morality can genuinely motivate us."

"We construct our understanding of causation through observation and inference, not through direct perception."

"The pursuit of truth requires intellectual humility and a willingness to abandon cherished beliefs."

"Normative ethics must grapple with the question of whether morality is objective or constructed."

"Our intuitions about knowledge are often unreliable guides to actual knowledge."

"The mind-body problem resists simple solutions and demands careful conceptual analysis."

"Rationality is not about having the right beliefs, but about having the right process for forming them."

"Personal identity persists through change, but the criteria for that persistence remain elusive."

"Skepticism about the senses must be answered with careful reasoning, not mere assertion."

"The nature of consciousness may require entirely new conceptual frameworks to properly understand."

"Moral principles must be grounded in something more than mere preference or culture."

"Metaphor is not merely a literary device but a fundamental mode of human understanding."

"The limits of language mark the boundaries of what we can meaningfully discuss."

"Introspection reveals less about our minds than we typically assume it does."

"Common linguistic distinctions often obscure rather than clarify philosophical problems."