"The philosophy of the inductive sciences, founded upon their history"

William Whewell Mathematics See all quotes by William Whewell →

React to this quote

More by William Whewell

“The catastrophist constructs theories, the uniformitarian demolishes them.”

“Every failure is a step to success. Every detection of what is false directs us towards what is true: every trial exhausts some tempting form of error. Not only so; but scarcely any attempt is entirely a failure; scarcely any theory, the result of steady thought, is altogether false; no tempting form of Error is without some latent charm derived from Truth.”

“Six Lectures on Political Economy”

“Profile from History of Economic Thought”

“And so no force however great can stretch a cord however fine into an horizontal line which is accurately straight.”

“The system becomes more coherent as it is further extended. The elements which we require for explaining a new class of facts are already contained in our system. Different members of the theory run together, and we have thus a constant convergence to unity. In false theories, the contrary is the case.”

Resonant Thoughts

"The irony of the post-Cold War period is that the fall of communism was followed by the rise of another utopian ideology. In American and Britain, and to a lesser extent other Western countries, a typ…"

— John Gray (philosopher)

Philosophy1948

#philosophy

"Now there is a final reason I think that Jesus says, "Love your enemies." It is this: that love has within it a redemptive power. And there is a power there that eventually transforms individuals. Tha…"

— Martin Luther King

Social Activism1929–1968

#philosophy

"This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness."

— Dalai Lama XIV

Religion1935

#ethics

"According to Confucian writings, wise individuals, wanting good government, looked first within, seeking precise words to express their hitherto unvoiced yearnings, "the tones given off by the heart."…"

— Marilyn Ferguson

Literature1938–2008

#writing