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Theory Quotes

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Theory Quotes

“Darwin based his theory on generalizations that were strictly empirical. You can go out and see that organisms do vary, that variations are inherited, and that every organism is capable of increasing its numbers in sufficiently favorable circumstances.”

Numbers Theory Circumstances Capable Organisms Variation Vary Generalization

Author:George C. Williams

“To no circumstance is the wide diffusion of error in the world more owing than to our habit of adopting conclusions from insufficiently established data. An indispensable preliminary, then, in every investigation, is to get at facts. Until these are arrived at, every opinion, theory, or system, however ingeniously framed, must necessarily rest upon an uncertain basis.”

World Facts Opinion Theory Habit Circumstances Bases Errors Wide Conclusion Data Investigation Uncertain Indispensable Framed Owing Adopting Diffusion

Author:Christian Nestell Bovee

“A masterly analysis of how political interests, economic circumstances, development strategies, and local history have shaped what are surprisingly different versions of the welfare state across the developing world. The authors combine fine-grained country analyses with intelligent use of data, and explain and extend the theory and literature on the modern welfare state. The book is both scholarly and readable.”

“Happy family: The existence and maintenance of [this] is thought to make a politician fit for public office. According to this theory, the public are less concerned by whether or not they are effectively represented than by the need to be assured that the penises and vaginas of public officials are only used in legally sanctioned circumstances.”

Needs Used Existence Theory Politician Fit Circumstances Office Concerned Officials Assured Maintenance Public Office Happy Family Public Officials

Book:The Doubter's Companion: A Dictionary of Aggressive Common Sense

Source: The Doubter's Companion: A Dictionary of Aggressive Common Sense

“To Marx the claim of the theory of ideology is that all doctrine is a derivative of social circumstance.”

Social Theory Circumstances Claims Doctrine Ideology Derivatives

Book:In Defence of Politics

Source: In Defence of Politics

“It is frequently said that speech that is intentionally provocative and therefore invites physical retaliation can be punished or suppressed. Yet, plainly no such general proposition can be sustained. Quite the contrary.... The provocative nature of the communication does not make it any the less expression. Indeed, the whole theory of free expression contemplates that expression will in many circumstances be provocative and arouse hostility. The audience, just as the speaker, has an obligation to maintain physical restraint.”

“Monotheistic religions in the West have tended to conflate having a general orientation in life, having a specific theory of the world, having a sense of the positive meaningfulness of one's existence, and having a fixed set of rules for behavior, but these elements are in principle separable. ... The "metaphysical need," ... both Marx and Nietzsche held, is a historical phenomenon that arises under determinate circumstances, and could be expected to disappear under other circumstances that we could relatively easily envisage.”

World Needs Existence Principles Theory Circumstances Behavior Elements Historical West Disappear Expected Arise Fixed Phenomenon Metaphysical Orientation Meaningfulness

Author:Raymond Geuss

“History has got a lot to do with unique circumstances under certain particular cases and grand theories will always find counter cases. I don't think that people whose expertise lies in one thing should try to make grand theories about something (a) where it's very hard to get the evidence to prove that you're right and (b) where it's much too easy to make up stories that seem right.”

People Thinking Should Trying Hard Stories Seems Lying Certain Easy Cases One Thing Particular Theory Circumstances Prove Unique Evidence Expertise

Author:Richard Lewontin

“On the theory of the soul's mortality, the inferiority of women's capacity is easily accounted for: Their domestic life requires no higher faculties either of mind or body. This circumstance vanishes and becomes absolutely insignificant, on the religious theory: The one sex has an equal task to perform as the other: Their powers of reason and resolution ought also to have been equal, and both of them infinitely greater than at present.”

Source: Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion (Second Edition)

“The morals of men are more governed by their pursuits than by their opinions. A type of virtue is first formed by circumstances, and men afterwards make it the model upon which their theories are framed.”

Men Firsts Moral Opinion Virtue Theory Type Circumstances Models Pursuit Framed

Book:History of European Morals from Augustus to Charlemagne

Source: History of European Morals from Augustus to Charlemagne

“The evolution of cultures appears to follow the pattern of the evolution of species. The many different forms of culture which arise correspond to the "mutations" of genetic theory. Some forms prove to be effective under prevailing circumstances and others not, and the perpetuation of the culture is determined accordingly.”

Different Form Culture Theory Evolution Circumstances Prove Species Patterns Determined Arise Prevailing Mutation

Book:Science And Human Behavior

Source: Science And Human Behavior

“In certain circumstances, financial markets can affect the so-called fundamentals which they are supposed to reflect. When that happens, markets enter into a state of dynamic disequilibrium and behave quite differently from what would be considered normal by the theory of efficient markets. Such boom/bust sequences do not arise very often, but when they do, they can be very disruptive, exactly because they affect the fundamentals of the economy.”

States Happens Would Be Certain Economy Theory Circumstances Normal Fundamentals Financial Arise Behave Efficient Sequence Disruptive Financial Markets Efficient Markets Disequilibrium

Author:George Soros

“In the first stage of insight-building, all that researchers can do is observe phenomena. Second, they classify the phenomena in a way that helps them simplify the apparent complexities of the world so they can ignore the meaningless differences and draw connections between the things that really seem to matter. Third, based on the classification system, they propose a theory. The theory is a statement of what causes what and why, and under what circumstances.”

“Constraint theory argues a number of things. First, that the impossible has to be identified. Second, that the actor is then constrained by circumstances to act a certain way. For example, should we invade ISIS? Can we invade ISIS? What would it take to invade ISIS? Once you ask that question you discover the price of that option and then you take a look at American politics and see that the country is probably not prepared to invest the 2 to 3 million people that it would take to defeat ISIS and the insurgency afterwards. All right, so that's not going to happen.”

“Earlier attempts to show that simpler theories always have higher prior probabilities have failed, but there is a restricted circumstance in which the claim is right.”

Shows Theory Higher Circumstances Claims Probability

Author:Elliott Sober

“Evolutionary theory has nothing to say, in general, as to whether cheating is more advantageous than cooperating. There are many circumstances in which the contrary would be true, and empirical evidence, though it exists, has little bearing on real situations.”

Littles Real Would Be Situation Theory Circumstances Evidence Contrary Being True Cheating Cooperating Empirical Evidence

Author:Noam Chomsky