Here comes the February edition of selected philosophical quotes. January selection is available here. The goal is simple: take my recent readings, select a bite-size amount of philosophical quotes that caused some reaction in me, publish them here on humanfactor.blog 

“A philosopher once said that the function of philosophy is to make one’s life more complicated rather than simpler. I think he was right in that philosophy makes us realise that what looks simple often is not.”

(chimisso, 2011)

“My habitual opinions keep coming back, and, despite my wishes, they capture my belief, which is at it were bound over to them as a result of long occupation and the law of custom.”

(descartes, 1641)

“It is impossible that any arguments from experience can prove resemblance of the past to the future since all these arguments are founded on the supposition of that resemblance.”

(hume, 1748)

“I must confess that a man is guilty of unpardonable arrogance who concludes, because an argument has escaped his own investigation, that therefore it does not really exist.”

(hume, 1748)

 “Observation is always selective. It needs a chosen object, a definite task, an interest, a point of view, a problem.”

(popper, 1957)

“From the point of view here developed all laws, all theories, remain essentially tentative, or conjectural, or hypothetical, even when we feel unable to doubt them any longer.”

(popper, 1957)

“In both political and scientific development the sense of malfunction that can lead to crisis is prerequisite to revolution.”

(kuhn, 1962)

“Once it has achieved the status of a paradigm, a scientific theory is declared invalid only if an alternate candidate is available to take its place.”

(kuhn, 1962)

“Nevertheless, paradigm changes do cause scientists to see the world of their research-engagement differently. In so far as their only recourse to that world is through what they see and do, we may want to say that after a revolution scientists are responding to a different world.”

(kuhn, 1962)

keep exploring!