Philosophy and Wisdom

Before the time of Kant, it was generally held that whatever knowledge was a priori must be 'analytic.' ... Kant, who had been educated in the rationalist tradition, was much perturbed by Hume's scepticism, and endeavoured to find an answer to it. He perceived that not only the connection of cause and effect, but all the propositions of arithmetic and geometry, are 'synthetic,' i.e. not analytic. ... Thus he was led to the conclusion that all pure mathematics, though a priori, is synthetic; and this conclusion raised a new problem of which he endeavoured to find the solution. Bertrand Russell The Problems of Philosophy

Immanuel Kant is generally regarded as the greatest of the modern philosophers. ... His most distinctive contribution was the invention of what he called the 'critical' philosophy, which, assuming as a datum that there is knowledge of various kinds, inquired how such knowledge comes to be possible, and deduced, from the answer to this inquiry, many metaphysical results as to the nature of the world. Whether these results were valid may well be doubted. But Kant undoubtedly deserves credit for two things: first, for having perceived that we have a priori knowledge which is not purely 'analytic,' i.e. such that the opposite would be self-contradictory; and secondly, for having made evident the philosophical importance of the theory of knowledge. Bertrand Russell The Problems of Philosophy

To teach how to live without certainty, and yet without being paralysed by hesitation, is perhaps the chief thing that philosophy, in our age, can still do for those who study it. Bertrand Russell A History of Western Philosophy

Philosophy, as I shall understand the word, is something intermediate between theology and science. Like theology, it consists of speculations on matters as to which definite knowledge has, so far, been unascertainable; but like science, it appeals to human reason rather than to authority, whether that of tradition or that of revelation. All definite knowledge, so I should contend, belongs to science; all dogma as to what surpasses definite knowledge belongs to theology. Bertrand Russell ​A History of Western Philosophy

The universe is what it is, not what I choose that it should be. If it is indifferent to human desires, as it seems to be; if human life is a passing episode, hardly noticeable in the vastness of cosmic processes; if there is no superhuman and supernatural purpose, and no hope of ultimate salvation, it is far better to understand and acknowledge this truth than to endeavor, in futile self-assertion, to order the universe to be what we may find comfortable. Bertrand Russell, The Freethinker’s Universe (1951)

The rational habit of mind is a rare one. I am, in this age when there are a great many appeals to unreason, an unrepentant rationalist... As far as I can see, the view to which we are committed... is that we ought not to believe, and we ought not to try to cause others to believe, any proposition for which there is no evidence whatever. Bertrand Russell, why I Am a Rationalist

Immanuel Kant is generally regarded as the greatest of the modern philosophers. ... His most distinctive contribution was the invention of what he called the 'critical' philosophy, which, assuming as a datum that there is knowledge of various kinds, inquired how such knowledge comes to be possible, and deduced, from the answer to this inquiry, many metaphysical results as to the nature of the world. Whether these results were valid may well be doubted. But Kant undoubtedly deserves credit for two things: first, for having perceived that we have a priori knowledge which is not purely 'analytic,' i.e. such that the opposite would be self-contradictory; and secondly, for having made evident the philosophical importance of the theory of knowledge. Bertrand Russell The Problems of Philosophy

⚪️ ⚪️ ⚪️ ⚪️ Most of the mistakes in thinking are inadequacies of perception rather than mistakes of logic. Edward de Bono

No man ever threw away life while it was worth keeping. Essays on suicide and the Immortality of the Soul. David Hume

It has been said that man is a rational animal. All my life I have been searching for evidence which could support this. Bertrand Russell

When men are most sure and arrogant, they are commonly most mistaken, giving views to passion without that proper deliberation which alone can secure them from the grossest absurdities. David Hume

⚪️ ⚪️ ⚪️ The more often a stupidity is repeated, the more it gets the appearance of wisdom. Voltaire

⚪️ ⚪️ We never live; we are always in the expectation of living. Voltaire

⚪️ ⚪️ ⚪️ Be not astonished at new ideas; for it is well known to you that a thing does not therefore cease to be true because it is not accepted by many. Baruch Spinoza

⚪️ ⚪️ ⚪️ Thought is the sculptor who can create the person you want to be. Henry Thoreau

⚪️ ⚪️ ⚪️ It may easily come to pass that a vain man may become proud and imagine himself pleasing to all when he is in reality a universal nuisance. Baruch Spinoza

⚪️ ⚪️ ⚪️ Time stays long enough for anyone who will use it. Leonardo da Vinci

⚪️ ⚪️ ⚪️ ⚪️ Most of the mistakes in thinking are inadequacies of perception rather than mistakes of logic. Edward de Bono