--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I see philosophy as a fairly abstract…" description: "\"I see philosophy as a fairly abstract activity, as concerned mainly with the analysis of criticism and concepts, and of course most usefully of scienti..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/615/a-j-ayer-18289_abstract_i-see-philosophy-as-a-fairly-abstract-ac_2589997.png" --- # I see philosophy as a fairly abstract activity, as… ![“I see philosophy as a fairly abstract activity, as concerned mainly with the analysis of criticism and concepts, and of course most usefully of scientific concepts.” quote by A.J. Ayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/615/a-j-ayer-18289_abstract_i-see-philosophy-as-a-fairly-abstract-ac_2589997.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/615/a-j-ayer-18289_abstract_i-see-philosophy-as-a-fairly-abstract-ac_2589997.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/615/a-j-ayer-18289_abstract_i-see-philosophy-as-a-fairly-abstract-ac_2589997.png) > “I see philosophy as a fairly abstract activity, as concerned mainly with the analysis of criticism and concepts, and of course most usefully of scientific concepts.” [A.J. Ayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-ayer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Philosophy is portrayed as a highly abstract discipline focused on critiquing ideas and especially scientific concepts. **In simple terms:** Philosophy analyzes ideas, especially scientific ones. Key Takeaway Value abstract analysis for deeper understanding. Themes philosophy abstraction science analysis Mood thoughtful analytical Type academic intellectual When to use this quote - academic research - science education - philosophical debate - intellectual discussions Key Concepts epistemology conceptual analysis critical thinking Questions to Reflect On - How does abstract analysis benefit everyday life? - When should philosophy engage with concrete problems? A Different Perspective Abstract work can become detached from practical concerns. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abstract](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstract/) [Activity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/activity/) [Analysis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/analysis/) [Concepts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/concepts/) [Concerned](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/concerned/) [Courses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/courses/) [Criticism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/criticism/) [Fairly Abstract](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fairly-abstract-1852722/) [Mainly Analysis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mainly-analysis-1852723/) [Philosophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy/) [Philosophy Fairly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy-fairly-1852721/) [Usefully Scientific](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/usefully-scientific-1852724/) ## Related quotes > [Love is like that, fragile and light. No wonder it rests upon our hearts in intangible moments, bids us follow fleeting thoughts and ideas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/love-is-like-that-fragile-and-light-no-wonder-it-rests-upon-our/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The trouble is that when you read criticisms about the other films that I've made you get the impression that they're all about themes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-haneke/the-trouble-is-that-when-you-read-criticisms-about-the-other-films/) [Michael Haneke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-haneke/) > [Future lawyers should be more aware that law is not a system of abstract logic, but the web of arrangements, rooted in history but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-frankfurter/future-lawyers-should-be-more-aware-that-law-is-not-a-system-of/) [Felix Frankfurter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-frankfurter/) > [I'm this superphilosophical kind of person. Stuck in a prison of abstract ideas and overpowering emotions, I have this personality that makes it really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natsuo-kirino/i-m-this-superphilosophical-kind-of-person-stuck-in-a-prison-of/) [Natsuo Kirino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natsuo-kirino/) > [A mobile is an abstract sculpture made chiefly out of sheet metal, steel rods, wire and wood. Some or all of these elements move,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-calder/a-mobile-is-an-abstract-sculpture-made-chiefly-out-of-sheet-metal/) [Alexander Calder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-calder/) > [The word of the Lord never comes to us as an opinion, no attempt is made to support it by argument, it comes as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-w-ivins/the-word-of-the-lord-never-comes-to-us-as-an-opinion-no-attempt-is/) [Anthony W. Ivins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-w-ivins/) > [For people of color - especially African Americans - the idea that racist cops might frame members of their community is no abstract notion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wise/for-people-of-color-especially-african-americans-the-idea-that-racist/) [Tim Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-wise/) > [Describing comic sensibility is near impossible. It's sort of an abstract silliness, that sometimes the joke isn't the star.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dana-carvey/describing-comic-sensibility-is-near-impossible-it-s-sort-of-an/) [Dana Carvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dana-carvey/) > [The more horrible this world (as today, for instance), the more abstract our art, whereas a happy world brings forth an art of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-klee/the-more-horrible-this-world-as-today-for-instance-the-more-abstract/) [Paul Klee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-klee/) > [Abstract Expressionism was invented by New York drunks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joni-mitchell/abstract-expressionism-was-invented-by-new-york-drunks/) [Joni Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joni-mitchell/) > [“Happy is very abstract, you can't touch it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julius-veal/happy-is-very-abstract-you-can-t-touch-it/) [Julius Veal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julius-veal/) > [A little too abstract, a little too wise, It is time for us to kiss the earth again, It is time to let the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robinson-jeffers/a-little-too-abstract-a-little-too-wise-it-is-time-for-us-to-kiss-the/) [Robinson Jeffers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robinson-jeffers/) > [Where human eyes have never seen, where human beings have never been, I build a world of abstract dreams, and I wait for you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-ra/where-human-eyes-have-never-seen-where-human-beings-have-never-been-i/) [Sun Ra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-ra/) > [Wisdom is the abstract of the past, but beauty is the promise of the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/wisdom-is-the-abstract-of-the-past-but-beauty-is-the-promise-of-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Painting is... a richer language than words... Painting operates through signs which are not abstract and incorporeal like words. The signs of painting are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-dubuffet/painting-is-a-richer-language-than-words-painting-operates-through/) [Jean Dubuffet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-dubuffet/) ## More by A.J. Ayer > [No morality can be founded on authority, even if the authority were divine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-ayer/no-morality-can-be-founded-on-authority-even-if-the-authority-were/) [A.J. Ayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-ayer/) > [In other words, the propositions of philosophy are not factual, but linguistic in character - that is, they do not describe the behaviour of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-ayer/in-other-words-the-propositions-of-philosophy-are-not-factual-but/) [A.J. Ayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-ayer/) > [The principles of logic and mathematics are true universally simply because we never allow them to be anything else. And the reason for this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-ayer/the-principles-of-logic-and-mathematics-are-true-universally-simply/) [A.J. Ayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-ayer/) > [I suddenly stopped and looked out at the sea and thought, my God, how beautiful this is ... for 26 years I had never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-ayer/i-suddenly-stopped-and-looked-out-at-the-sea-and-thought-my-god-how/) [A.J. Ayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-ayer/) > [The fact that people have religious experiences is interesting from the psychological point of view, but it does not in any way imply that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-ayer/the-fact-that-people-have-religious-experiences-is-interesting-from/) [A.J. Ayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-ayer/) > [If 'god' is a metaphysical term, then it cannot be even probable that a god exists. For to say that 'God exists' is to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-ayer/if-god-is-a-metaphysical-term-then-it-cannot-be-even-probable-that-a/) [A.J. Ayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-ayer/) > [But if science may be said to be blind without philosophy, it is true also that philosophy is virtually empty without science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-ayer/but-if-science-may-be-said-to-be-blind-without-philosophy-it-is-true/) [A.J. Ayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-ayer/) > [“What is not so generally recognized is that there can be no way of proving that the existence of a god, such as the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-ayer/what-is-not-so-generally-recognized-is-that-there-can-be-no-way-of/) [A.J. Ayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-ayer/) > [Bertrand Russell would not have wished to be called a saint of any description; but he was a great and good man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-ayer/bertrand-russell-would-not-have-wished-to-be-called-a-saint-of-any/) [A.J. Ayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-ayer/) > [It seems that I have spent my entire life trying to make life more rational and that it was all wasted effort.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-ayer/it-seems-that-i-have-spent-my-entire-life-trying-to-make-life-more/) [A.J. Ayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-ayer/) > [There is philosophy, which is about conceptual analysis - about the meaning of what we say - and there is all of this ...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-ayer/there-is-philosophy-which-is-about-conceptual-analysis-about-the/) [A.J. Ayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-ayer/) > [If the assertion that there is a god is nonsensical, then the atheist's assertion that there is no god is equally nonsensical, since it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-ayer/if-the-assertion-that-there-is-a-god-is-nonsensical-then-the-atheist/) [A.J. Ayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-ayer/) > [A prevalent fallacy is the assumption that a proof of an afterlife would also be a proof of the existence of a deity. This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-ayer/a-prevalent-fallacy-is-the-assumption-that-a-proof-of-an-afterlife/) [A.J. Ayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-ayer/) > [Theism is so confused and the sentences in which "God" appears so incoherent and so incapable of verifiability or falsifiability that to speak of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-ayer/theism-is-so-confused-and-the-sentences-in-which-god-appears-so/) [A.J. Ayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-ayer/) > [Why should you mind being wrong if someone can show you that you are?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-ayer/why-should-you-mind-being-wrong-if-someone-can-show-you-that-you-are/) [A.J. Ayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-ayer/) [Explore all 35 A.J. Ayer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-ayer/) ## More Abstract quotes > [Love is like that, fragile and light. No wonder it rests upon our hearts in intangible moments, bids us follow fleeting thoughts and ideas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/love-is-like-that-fragile-and-light-no-wonder-it-rests-upon-our/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Wisdom is the abstract of the past, but beauty is the promise of the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/wisdom-is-the-abstract-of-the-past-but-beauty-is-the-promise-of-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Where human eyes have never seen, where human beings have never been, I build a world of abstract dreams, and I wait for you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-ra/where-human-eyes-have-never-seen-where-human-beings-have-never-been-i/) [Sun Ra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-ra/) > [A little too abstract, a little too wise, It is time for us to kiss the earth again, It is time to let the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robinson-jeffers/a-little-too-abstract-a-little-too-wise-it-is-time-for-us-to-kiss-the/) [Robinson Jeffers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robinson-jeffers/) > [“Happy is very abstract, you can't touch it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julius-veal/happy-is-very-abstract-you-can-t-touch-it/) [Julius Veal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julius-veal/) > [Abstract Expressionism was invented by New York drunks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joni-mitchell/abstract-expressionism-was-invented-by-new-york-drunks/) [Joni Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joni-mitchell/) > [The more horrible this world (as today, for instance), the more abstract our art, whereas a happy world brings forth an art of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-klee/the-more-horrible-this-world-as-today-for-instance-the-more-abstract/) [Paul Klee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-klee/) > [Describing comic sensibility is near impossible. It's sort of an abstract silliness, that sometimes the joke isn't the star.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dana-carvey/describing-comic-sensibility-is-near-impossible-it-s-sort-of-an/) [Dana Carvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dana-carvey/) > [For people of color - especially African Americans - the idea that racist cops might frame members of their community is no abstract notion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wise/for-people-of-color-especially-african-americans-the-idea-that-racist/) [Tim Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-wise/) > [The word of the Lord never comes to us as an opinion, no attempt is made to support it by argument, it comes as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-w-ivins/the-word-of-the-lord-never-comes-to-us-as-an-opinion-no-attempt-is/) [Anthony W. Ivins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-w-ivins/) > [A mobile is an abstract sculpture made chiefly out of sheet metal, steel rods, wire and wood. Some or all of these elements move,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-calder/a-mobile-is-an-abstract-sculpture-made-chiefly-out-of-sheet-metal/) [Alexander Calder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-calder/) > [I'm this superphilosophical kind of person. Stuck in a prison of abstract ideas and overpowering emotions, I have this personality that makes it really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natsuo-kirino/i-m-this-superphilosophical-kind-of-person-stuck-in-a-prison-of/) [Natsuo Kirino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natsuo-kirino/) > [Future lawyers should be more aware that law is not a system of abstract logic, but the web of arrangements, rooted in history but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-frankfurter/future-lawyers-should-be-more-aware-that-law-is-not-a-system-of/) [Felix Frankfurter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-frankfurter/) > [The trouble is that when you read criticisms about the other films that I've made you get the impression that they're all about themes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-haneke/the-trouble-is-that-when-you-read-criticisms-about-the-other-films/) [Michael Haneke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-haneke/) > [Painting is... a richer language than words... Painting operates through signs which are not abstract and incorporeal like words. The signs of painting are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-dubuffet/painting-is-a-richer-language-than-words-painting-operates-through/) [Jean Dubuffet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-dubuffet/) [Browse all 1,403 Abstract quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstract/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I see philosophy as a fairly abstract activity, as concerned mainly with the analysis of criticism and concepts, and of course most usefully of scientific concepts.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "A.J. 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