Home / Quotes / Quote by William James

Quote by William James

“Science as such assuredly has no authority, for she can only say what is, not what is not.”

Quote by William James

Book:Essays in Popular Philosophy: Top Essays

Work

Essays in Popular Philosophy: Top Essays

This book compiles a selection of essays that delve into a range of philosophical subjects, offering insights and discussions suitable for readers with an interest in philosophy but without specialized knowledge. more

Author

William James, born on January 11, 1842, and died on August 26, 1910, was an influential American philosopher, psychologist, and writer. He is considered one of the founders of functionalism in psychology and has had a profound impact on the fields of psychology, philosophy, and religion. more

You May Also Like

“Science attempts to find logic and simplicity in nature. Mathematics attempts to establish order and simplicity in human thought.”

Humans Science Order Nature Natural Logic Accounts Mathematics Simplicity Human Thought

Book:The Pursuit of Simplicity

Source: The Pursuit of Simplicity

“Science becomes dangerous only when it imagines that it has reached its goal.”

Science Goal Imagination Imagine Dangerous Accounts Imagine That

Author:George Bernard Shaw

“Science burrows its insulted head in the filth of slaughterous inventions.”

Science Accounts Invention Insult Insulted Filth

Book:Winston S. Churchill: Companion Vol. V, Part Three, the Coming of War 1936-1939

Source: Winston S. Churchill: Companion Vol. V, Part Three, the Coming of War 1936-1939

“Science can give us only the tools in the box, these mechanical miracles that it has already given us. But of what use to us are miraculous tools until we have mastered the humane, cultural use of them? We do not want to live in a world where the machine has mastered the man; we want to live in a world where man has mastered the machine.”

Men World Want Giving Use Science Given He Man Tools Machines Accounts Miracle Boxes Miraculous Humane

Author:Frank Lloyd Wright

“Science cannot avert a single thunderbolt.”

Science Accounts Avert Thunderbolts

Book:Free Women, Free Men: Sex, Gender, Feminism

Source: Free Women, Free Men: Sex, Gender, Feminism

“Science cannot describe individuals, but only types. If human societies cannot be classified, they must remain inaccessible to scientific description.”

Ifs Humans Science Individual Society Type Accounts Description Human Society Inaccessible

Author:Emile Durkheim

“Science deals exclusively with things as they are in themselves.”

Book:The stones of Venice.-3 vol

Source: The stones of Venice.-3 vol

“Science does not have a moral dimension. It is like a knife. If you give it to a surgeon or a murderer, each will use it differently.”

Ifs Giving Doe Use Science Differences Moral Accounts Dimensions Knives Murderer Surgeons

Author:Wernher von Braun

“Science does not rest upon solid bedrock. The bold structure of its theories rises, as it were, above a swamp. It is like a building erected on piles. The piles are driven down from above into the swamp, but not down to any natural or 'given' base; and if we stop driving the piles deeper, it is not because we have reached firm ground. We simply stop when we are satisfied that the piles are firm enough to carry the structure, at least for the time being.”

Doe Enough Science Given Natural Building Theory Structure Deeper Driven Cease Satisfied Firm Layers Swamps Bedrock

Author:Karl Popper

“Science even more than the Gospel teaches us humility. She cannot look down on anything, she does not know what superiority means, she despises nothing, never lies for the sake of a pose, and conceals nothing out of coquetry. She stops before the facts as an investigator, sometimes as a physician, never as an executioner, and still less with hostility and irony.”