Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by Adam Gopnik

Quote by Adam Gopnik

“The light obtained by setting straw men on fire is not what we mean by illumination.”

Quote by Adam Gopnik

Create image

Author

Adam Gopnik
Adam Gopnik

Adam Gopnik is a renowned Canadian writer whose essays and articles on culture, literature, and politics have made a significant impact on public discourse. Born on August 24, 1956, Gopnik has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 1986, contributing thought-provoking insights into the complexities of modern life. His work, characterized by its wit and emotional depth, has earned him a place among the most influential writers of his generation. more

You May Also Like

“To be completely objective we must say: All men are mortal. Lionel Samaratunga's son is a man. Therefore Lionel Samaratunga's son is mortal. So stated, it is quite generally true, and is the concern of no-one in particular. It is so generally true that it would serve in a textbook of logic as an example of a syllogism in Barbara (though usually, instead of Lionel Samaratunga's son, it is Socrates whose mortality is logically demonstrated). But how many students of logic are going to shed tears when they read that Lionel Samaratunga's son is destined to die? How many have so much as heard of Lionel Samaratunga, let alone of his son? (And anyway, how many students of logic shed a tear even over the death of Socrates, of whom they may perhaps have heard?) But if you were to come across this syllogism unexpectedly, it is not impossible that you might feel emotionally moved (as perhaps at this very moment you may be feeling a little uncomfortable at my having chosen an example so near home). And why should this be so? Because you are fond of Lionel Samaratunga's son and cannot regard this syllogism in Barbara, which speaks of his mortality, quite so objectively as a student of logic. In other words, as soon as feeling comes in at the door objectivity flies out the window. Feeling, being private and not public, is subjective and not objective. And the Buddha has said (A. III,61: i,176) that it is 'to one who feels' that he teaches the Four Noble Truths. So, then, the Dhamma must essentially refer to a subjective aniccatā—i.e. one that entails dukkha—and not, in any fundamental sense, to an objective aniccatā, which we can leave to students of logic and their professors. (Feeling is not a logical category at all.)”

LogicDhamma
Author:Nanavira Thera
Create image

“Academics place much more importance on rigorous logic. There is also admiration in the profession for subtle reasoning. And mastery of the craft shows itself in the elegance of the intellectual super-structure…. The practitioner, on the other hand, uses economic theory only to the extent that he finds it useful in comprehending the problem at hand, so that practical courses of action will emerge which can be evaluated not merely in narrow economic cost-benefit terms, but by taking into account a wider range of considerations…. A practitioner is not judged by the rigour of his logic or by the elegance of his presentation. He is judged by results.”

ResultsLogicPragmatismLogical ThinkingAcademicsTheory And PracticeResult OrientedPractitioners
Author:Goh Keng Swee
Create image