"Although what is called ‘philosophical speculation’ is undoubtedly on the decline, many of the practically minded have not yet freed themselves from a method of reasoning, which, in the last analysis, has its roots in theology and metaphysics. No science which pretends to be exact can accept an untested theory or doctrine; yet even in an exact science there is often an admixture of magic, theology, and philosophy. It is one of the tasks of our time to aid scientific reasoning to attain its goal without hindrance. Whoever undertakes this is concerned not so much with ‘philosophy,’ properly speaking, as with ‘anti-philosophy.’ For him there is but one science with subdivisions — a unified science of sciences. We have a science that deals with rocks, another that deals with plants, a third that deals with animals, but we need a science that unites them all."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Otto Neurath (1931) "Physicalism: The Philosophy of the Viennese Circle," in: The Monist, Vol. 41, No. 4 (October, 1931), pp. 618-623; Lead paragraph
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Otto_Neurath
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Otto Neurath
(December 10, 1882 – December 22, 1945) was an Austrian philosopher of science, sociologist, and political economist. Before he fled his native country in 1934, Neurath was one of the leading figures of the Vienna Circle.
27 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Otto Neurath →
Related Quotes
"True science consists in systematically examining all possible cases. Exact political economy has not achieved this u…"
"We are like sailors who on the open sea must reconstruct their ship but are never able to start afresh from the botto…"
"If one could only fly over the Earth and show everybody, Chinese gardeners live side by side in old fashion. Next to …"
"Science as a system of statements is always an object of discussion. Statements are to be compared with statements, a…"
"Finally it should be noted that the picture education, especially the pictorial statistics, are of international impo…"
"All content of science, and also their protocol statements that are used for verification, are selected on the basis …"
"Quite a few political economists advocate the thesis that a Robinson Crusoe — or what amounts to the same thing, a co…"
"The primordial forms of all sciences, taken back beyond the rise of writing, lie ultimately in the magic of prehistor…"
"What we have of systematic and orderly action and speech ... seems to go back to primeval systematic orderliness as f…"
"‘History’ and ‘Political Economy’ have not been differentiated on the basis of systematic reflection; rather, they ha…"