Philosopher Quotes

I believe firmly that in making ethical decisions, man has the prerogative of true freedom of choice.

There is no falsification before the emergence of a better theory.

The positive heuristic of the programme saves the scientist from becoming confused by the ocean of anomalies.

The classical example of a successful research programme is Newton's gravitational theory: possibly the most successful research programme ever.

The clash between Popper and Kuhn is not about a mere technical point in epistemology.

Research programmes, besides their negative heuristic, are also characterized by their positive heuristic.

Philosophy of science without history of science is empty; history of science without philosophy of science is blind.

Our empirical criterion for a series of theories is that it should produce new facts. The idea of growth and the concept of empirical character are soldered into one.

Indeed, this epistemological theory of the relation between theory and experiment differs sharply from the epistemological theory of naive falsificationism.

If even in science there is no a way of judging a theory but by assessing the number, faith and vocal energy of its supporters, then this must be even more so in the social sciences: truth lies in power.

Einstein's results again turned the tables and now very few philosophers or scientists still think that scientific knowledge is, or can be, proven knowledge.

It would be wrong to assume that one must stay with a research programme until it has exhausted all its heuristic power, that one must not introduce a rival programme before everybody agrees that the point of degeneration has probably been reached.

Blind commitment to a theory is not an intellectual virtue: it is an intellectual crime.

If I am capable of grasping God objectively, I do not believe, but precisely because I cannot do this I must believe.

Anxiety is the dizziness of freedom.

The tyrant dies and his rule is over, the martyr dies and his rule begins.

Listen to the cry of a woman in labor at the hour of giving birth - look at the dying man's struggle at his last extremity, and then tell me whether something that begins and ends thus could be intended for enjoyment.

Faith is the highest passion in a human being. Many in every generation may not come that far, but none comes further.

It is so hard to believe because it is so hard to obey.

Once you label me you negate me.

Since boredom advances and boredom is the root of all evil, no wonder, then, that the world goes backwards, that evil spreads. This can be traced back to the very beginning of the world. The gods were bored; therefore they created human beings.

Don't forget to love yourself.

Face the facts of being what you are, for that is what changes what you are.

How absurd men are! They never use the liberties they have, they demand those they do not have. They have freedom of thought, they demand freedom of speech.

To dare is to lose one's footing momentarily. Not to dare is to lose oneself.

Boredom is the root of all evil - the despairing refusal to be oneself.

A man who as a physical being is always turned toward the outside, thinking that his happiness lies outside him, finally turns inward and discovers that the source is within him.

The highest and most beautiful things in life are not to be heard about, nor read about, nor seen but, if one will, are to be lived.

What is a poet? An unhappy person who conceals profound anguish in his heart but whose lips are so formed that as sighs and cries pass over them they sound like beautiful music.

I see it all perfectly; there are two possible situations - one can either do this or that. My honest opinion and my friendly advice is this: do it or do not do it - you will regret both.