Home / Quotes / Quote by Rebecca Goldstein

Quote by Rebecca Goldstein

“Our society is falling back increasingly on rampant consumerism and self-promoting social media as a way for people to feel that their lives matter - self-centered means of numbing the questions of mattering. Culture has relapsed back into the self-aggrandizing, glorifying answers that the Athenians had presumed, which had Socrates railing against them until he got so annoying that they killed him.”

Quote by Rebecca Goldstein

Author

Rebecca Goldstein

Rebecca Goldstein, born on February 23, 1950, is an American novelist known for her profound psychological insights and philosophical explorations. Her works, such as 'The Mind-Body Problem' and 'Natural History', are celebrated for their blend of literature and philosophy. more

You May Also Like

“Because of the failure of religion to offer satisfying answers to an increasing number of people, it's time for philosophy to address forcefully these questions that everybody is wondering about.”

People Philosophy Answers Numbers Wonder Offers Addresses Satisfying

Author:Rebecca Goldstein

“In fact, I think I have had a ghost in my house. Although not active lately, unexplainable things would happen and the kitties were particularly sensitive - especially, Marlon Brando... the cat not the man.”

Thinking Men Facts Happens House Cat Active Ghost Sensitive Kitties Brando Unexplainable

Author:Tippi Hedren

“Almost everybody thinks about philosophy, even if they don't realize it's philosophy and even if they have no sense of the difficulty of the problems, the array of possible answers.”

Ifs Thinking Philosophy Problem Realizing Answers Difficulty

Author:Rebecca Goldstein

“I think one reason is that philosophers are more insecure to speak accessibly because non-philosophers are skeptical that philosophers have any special expertise. After all, all people - not just philosophers - have attitudes and points of view on various philosophical questions, and they rather resent being told that there are professionals who can think about these things better.”

People Thinking Reason Speak Views Attitude Special Philosophical Philosopher Various Point Of View Insecure Skeptical Expertise Resent Philosophical Questions

Author:Rebecca Goldstein

“Philosophers feel a little more cautious about letting down their technical guard lest the general public doesn't recognize their special credentials. It's the fact that philosophy is of general interest that, paradoxically, keeps philosophers from wanting to speak in a way that's accessible to the general public.”

Way Feels Littles Philosophy Facts Speak Interest Special Philosopher Cautious General Public Credentials

Author:Rebecca Goldstein

“Philosophical progress changes what we take to be "intuitively" obvious, and this change covers up the tracks of the laborious arguments that preceded the changes. We don't see these changes, because we see with them.”

Progress Argument Philosophical Track Obvious Cover Ups

Author:Rebecca Goldstein

“I would say to anybody who thinks that all the problems in philosophy can be translated into empirically verifiable answers - whether it be a Lawrence Krauss thinking that physics is rendering philosophy obsolete or a Sam Harris thinking that neuroscience is rendering moral philosophy obsolete - that it takes an awful lot of philosophy - philosophy of science in the first case, moral philosophy in the second - even to demonstrate the relevance of these empirical sciences.”

Thinking Firsts Philosophy Problem Answers Moral Cases Physics Awful Neuroscience Relevance Obsolete Rendering Philosophy Of Science Moral Philosophy

Author:Rebecca Goldstein

“As an activist, you do find yourself directed more toward public action. But I've always tried to use stories from my own life in my writing for instance. It has always been clear to me that the stories of each other's lives are our best textbooks. Every social justice movement that I know of has come out of people sitting in small groups, telling their life stories, and discovering that other people have shared similar experiences. So, if we've shared many experiences, then it probably has something to do with power or politics, and if we unify and act together, then we can make a change.”

“I'm not sure that it's up to me to sum up what I've done with it in the past. I'm not sure there's a way of knowing what we have done that is useful or important.”

Way Important Done Past Knowing Not Sure

Author:Gloria Steinem

“Our own lives feel so disordered and confusing, so it's amazing to me that the filmmakers caught the personal, emotional high points and low points of my life and not just the public aspects.”

Feels Emotional Lows Aspect Caught Filmmaker Confusing High Points Low Points

Author:Gloria Steinem