From time immemorial, some men supposed to deal in…
““From time immemorial, some men supposed to deal in one-valued 'eternal verities'. We called such men 'philosophers' or 'meta-physicians'. But they seldom realized that all their 'eternal verities' consisted only of words, and words which, for the most part, belonged to a primitive language, refleting in its structure the assumed structure of the world of remote antiquity. Besides, they did not realize that these 'eternal verities' last only so long as the human nervous system is not altered. Under the influence of these 'philosophers', two-valued 'logic', and the confusion of orders of abstractions, nearly all of us contracted a firmly rooted predilection for 'general' statements - 'universals', as they were called - which in most cases inherently involved the semantic one-valued conviction of validity for all 'time' to come.””
About This Quote
This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.
Human concepts are limited by language and brain structures, so so truths are provisional and changeable.
In simple terms: Ideas depend on language and brain; they aren't permanent.
Key Takeaway
Question assumptions and stay flexible.
Themes
philosophy
language
relativism
epistemology
Mood
reflective
critical
inquisitive
Type
analytical
philosophical
When to use this quote
- academic debate
- personal belief systems
- cultural analysis
Key Concepts
semantic theory
generalization
abstraction
Questions to Reflect On
- How do you test the permanence of a belief?
- What role does language play in shaping reality?
A Different Perspective
Truths shift with new perspectives and neurocognitive changes.