Philosophy Quotes

"Empiricism without dogmatism is philosophy's difficult balance."

"The universe under one description may be perfectly rational, under another apparently chaotic."

"To be rational is not to be certain, but to proportion belief to evidence."

"The question of what exists is not always answerable by science alone."

"Realism about unobservables is an optional add-on to scientific success."

"Science provides empirically adequate models, and that may be all we need."

"The debate between scientific realism and empiricism remains vitally important."

"Empiricism is not skepticism; it is responsible faith in human inquiry."

"Philosophy of science is science reflecting on itself."

"What we call reality is but a collection of possibilities until observation forces a choice."

"Philosophy begins with wonder and ends with more questions."

"Philosophy is the art of learning to live with uncertainty."

"The meaning of life is found in understanding how organisms represent the world through their interactions with it."

"Meaning cannot be purely in the head - it requires proper causal history."

"The question 'what is it like to be a bat?' needs a pragmatic rather than mystical answer."

"The unity of consciousness cannot be explained by brain mechanisms alone."

"Intentional systems exist at multiple levels - from cells to societies."

"The question of what makes a thought true or false is fundamental to understanding mind."

"Understanding intentionality is understanding what makes us different from mere mechanisms."

"Intentionality without error would be mere mechanism."

"False beliefs are still beliefs - they represent reality, just inaccurately."

"We are not transparent to ourselves about what our thoughts mean."

"Intentional realism is the view that our thoughts can genuinely represent reality."

"The externalist revolution in philosophy of mind reflects a deep biological truth."

"Intentionality without representation would be purposeless motion."

"The intentional order depends on the physical order but is not reducible to it."

"The meaning of a word is its use in the language."

"The logic of conversation is not the logic of formal systems."

"The hearer must infer the speaker's intended meaning from available evidence."

"Literal meaning is only the starting point for understanding speech."