Sellars, Wilfrid

"Scientific progress consists not in approaching absolute truth but in better systematization."

"The unity of science is a regulative ideal, not an achieved fact."

"Intentionality cannot be derived from purely physical properties without additional structure."

"The given is not sacred; it can and should be questioned in light of theory."

"Rationality requires the ability to articulate and defend one's commitments."

"What counts as an explanation depends on what background knowledge is assumed."

"The manifest image of man in the world has equal standing with the scientific image."

"Concepts do not correspond to reality in a simple one-to-one manner."

"The logical form of a sentence may not reveal its true logical structure."

"Understanding others requires adopting their perspective without losing objectivity."

"The inference to the best explanation is not reducible to deductive logic."

"Mental causation is intelligible only within a framework that respects both science and rationality."

"Necessity in nature reflects our conceptual schemes as much as objective structure."

"The normative dimension of meaning cannot be captured by naturalistic reduction."

"Our standards of evidence are shaped by our theoretical commitments and purposes."

"To ask what properties ultimately exist is to ask a question relative to a framework."

"Consciousness is not a problem for physicalism if we understand physicalism properly."

"The relationship between language and thought is more intimate than empiricists recognize."

"Objectivity does not require escaping all perspectives but adopting appropriate ones."

"The sense-data theory fails because sensation without conceptualization is inert."

"Scientific concepts are human creations that succeed by capturing natural regularities."

"Rationality and empiricism are not opposed but complementary aspects of knowledge."

"The problem of other minds dissolves when we recognize that thoughts are inherently public."

"Explanation progresses not by finding ultimate constituents but by improving systematization."

"The abstract and the concrete are equally real within properly constructed frameworks."

"What we perceive is always filtered through the conceptual resources available to us."

"Materialism is not false, but it must be enriched to account for meaning and intentionality."

"The authority of introspection is limited and must be checked against behavioral evidence."

"Semantic realism requires that some of our concepts genuinely refer to natural kinds."

"The unity of knowledge demands integration of perspectives, not reduction to one."