"Therefore, the seeker after the truth is not one who studies the writings of the ancients and, following his natural disposition, puts his trust in them, but rather the one who suspects his faith in them and questions what he gathers from them, the one who submits to argument and demonstration, and not to the sayings of a human being whose nature is fraught with all kinds of imperfection and deficiency. Thus the duty of the man who investigates the writings of scientists, if learning the truth is his goal, is to make himself an enemy of all that he reads, and, applying his mind to the core and margins of its content, attack it from every side. He should also suspect himself as he performs his critical examination of it, so that he may avoid falling into either prejudice or leniency."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Alhazen, “Muslim Journeys.” Bridging Cultures Bookshelf: Muslim Journeys. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Nov. 2013.
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Philosophy
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Philosophy
195 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Philosophy →
Related Quotes
"Philosophy that satisfies its own intention, and does not childishly skip behind its own history and the real one, ha…"
"If philosophy is still necessary, it is so only in the way it has been from time immemorial: as critique, as resistan…"
"As solid citizens, philosophers ally themselves in practice with the powers they condemn in theory."
"Like every 'intellectual', a philosophy teacher is a petty bourgeois. When he opens his mouth, it is petty-bourgeois …"
"(Philosophy is)"
"An art, which has an aim to achieve the beauty, is called a philosophy or in the absolute sense it is named wisdom."
"Philosophy is questions that may never be answered. Religion is answers that may never be questioned."
"You cannot be a philosopher. You cannot be one because you are a believer. A Catholic cannot be a philosopher'. So sa…"
"Dario Antiseri, Cristiano perché relativista, relativista perché cristiano. Per un razionalismo della contingenza, Ru…"
"Philosophy … consists chiefly in suggesting unintelligible answers to insoluble problems."