Sellars, Wilfrid

"Normativity cannot be reduced to mere description of natural facts."

"Our commitments to truth are embedded in our ways of acting and speaking."

"The scientific worldview must accommodate the manifest image of human experience."

"Knowledge is not a private possession but a public achievement."

"Categories are tools we use to make sense of experience, not containers of essences."

"Facts become facts through the conceptual practices of a community."

"Understanding requires recognizing the interplay of theory and observation."

"Rationality is fundamentally about following rules, not mechanically computing."

"The space of norms cannot be collapsed into the space of causes."

"Meaning emerges from our use of symbols within structured practices."

"Thought is not a mirror of nature but a way of engaging with it."

"We justify our beliefs by appealing to other beliefs, creating a web of support."

"Language learning is initiation into a complex form of life."

"The predicament of human understanding is that we are both subjects and objects."

"Science progresses by refining our conceptual schemes, not by approaching absolute truth."

"Observational facts are not independent of interpretive frameworks."

"Our understanding of ourselves as minded creatures is a philosophical task."

"Intentional states are constituted by our roles within normative practices."

"The unity of science requires bridging the gap between physical descriptions and intentional explanations."

"We cannot step outside our conceptual schemes to verify their correspondence to reality."

"Perseverance in philosophical inquiry means resisting false certainties."

"The given cannot serve as a foundation because it is always already interpreted."

"Thinking is not private; it occurs within a space of reasons accessible to others."

"Our sensations become perceptions through the mediation of concepts."

"Ethical principles gain force from their place in a holistic worldview."

"Understanding consciousness requires understanding our role in a linguistic community."

"The scientific image and the manifest image are not competitors but complementary perspectives."

"Truths are not isolated facts but members of a mutually supporting system."

"Our capacity for thought depends on participation in social practices."

"Categories structure both our experience and our scientific theories."