Knowledge Quotes

"The puzzle of the Morning Star and Evening Star reveals deep truths about reference."

"We should not multiply possible worlds beyond what our best theories require."

"Reference-fixing descriptions do not determine the meaning of proper names."

"Names introduce objects directly into our thoughts without conceptual intermediaries."

"Metaphysical necessity exceeds both logical and physical necessity in scope."

"Ordinary language philosophy rightly insists that meaning determines reference."

"The causal-historical account explains reference without invoking sense or meaning."

"The speaker's referential intention fixes the reference of ambiguous terms."

"Proper names and demonstratives share the feature of rigid designation."

"Modal discourse is meaningful and truth-evaluable despite its apparent metaphysical extravagance."

"The meaning of a name is exhausted by the object it designates."

"The causal theory explains how ignorant speakers can refer to unknown objects."

"Reference does not require that the speaker have identifying knowledge of the object."

"The speaker's intention to refer determines what object a name designates."

"Rigid designation is compatible with multiple satisfaction conditions."

"The causal theory of reference is not merely an empirical claim but a philosophical insight."

"The demands of logic are not imposed on the world but on our descriptions of it."

"The limits of my language mean the limits of my world."

"Logic is the grammar of thought."

"Citizens in a well-ordered society understand why the principles of justice are correct."

"The principles of justice must be knowable and publicly acknowledged."

"The totality of our so-called knowledge or beliefs, from the most casual matters of geography to the profoundest laws of atomic physics, is a man-made fabric which impinges on experience only along the edges."

"Reality is underdetermined by science; multiple theories can fit the same data."

"Analyticity is a matter of degree, not a sharp distinction."

"The universe could be simpler than we suppose if we revise our conceptual schemes radically enough."

"Experience underdetermines theory at every level of inquiry."

"There is no purely objective starting point for knowledge; all inquiry begins within tradition."

"Logic is revisable just like any other scientific theory."

"What we call knowledge is really just justified true belief that coheres with our other beliefs."

"We construct our knowledge of external objects from the flow of our sensory experience."