"In a strict usage the same symbol should never represent the act of sincerely asserting something and the content of what is asserted. For the symbolic distinction between the two, Frege has introduced the 'signpost' symbol. ... \vdash p is to signify the actual assertion of p, while the bare symbol p must henceforth be used only as part of a sentence. ... It should be clear from the modality of a sentence whether it is a question, a command, an invective, a complaint or an allegation of fact."
React to this quote
More by Michael Polanyi
See allResonant Thoughts
"I was instructed long ago by a wise editor, "If you understand something you can explain it so that almost anyone can understand it. If you don't, you won't be able to understand your own explanation.…"
"I cannot forbear adding to these reasonings an observation, which may, perhaps, be found of some importance. In every system of morality, which I have hitherto met with, I have always remarked, that t…"
Explore Further
Related Quotes
"It is usually not wise to discuss matters of costume with people like this, — politics or religion being fa…"
— Thomas Pynchon"But the wise man is fortified against all inroads; he is alert; he will not retreat before the attack of po…"
— Seneca the Younger"It might otherwise appear paradoxical that money can be replaced by worthless paper; but that the slightest…"
— Karl Marx"The question is, whether, like the Divine Child in the Temple, we are turning knowledge into wisdom, and wh…"
— Frederick William Robertson"We accumulate our opinions at an age when our understanding is at its weakest."
— Georg Christoph Lichtenberg"My name is Sam Donaldson and I've got a message for you. News ain't just for the white man, it's for the br…"
— Sam Donaldson
Related Thinkers
Related Topics
Deep Dives
- David Cay Johnston on wisdom
- Bernard Lietaer on wisdom
- George Katona on wisdom
- David Cay Johnston on politics
- David Cay Johnston on time
- David Cay Johnston on justice
- David Cay Johnston on life
- David Cay Johnston on knowledge
- David Cay Johnston on art
- David Cay Johnston on philosophy
- knowledge & Beauty
- knowledge & Change
