--- title: "7 Concepts Quotes By Hilary Kornblith" description: "7 Concepts quotes by Hilary Kornblith. Plus more from Hilary Kornblith and more Concepts sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/35c/hilary-kornblith-11063_analogies_i-am-quite-wedded-to-the-view-that-epist_250792.jpg" --- > [I am quite wedded to the view that epistemologists should concern themselves with knowledge rather than our concept of knowledge. The analogy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-kornblith/i-am-quite-wedded-to-the-view-that-epistemologists-should-concern/) [Hilary Kornblith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-kornblith/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/35c/hilary-kornblith-11063_analogies_i-am-quite-wedded-to-the-view-that-epist_250792.jpg) > [The role of empirical work in informing our philosophical theories, as I see it, is not that it gives us a better…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-kornblith/the-role-of-empirical-work-in-informing-our-philosophical-theories-as/) [Hilary Kornblith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-kornblith/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ff/hilary-kornblith-11063_concepts_the-role-of-empirical-work-in-informing_268685.jpg) > [The kind of approach I take is different from much of experimental philosophy. Although the experimental philosophers and I are certainly in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-kornblith/the-kind-of-approach-i-take-is-different-from-much-of-experimental/) [Hilary Kornblith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-kornblith/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d3/hilary-kornblith-11063_agreement_the-kind-of-approach-i-take-is-different_401913.jpg) > [Epistemologists should be concerned with knowledge and justification and so on, not our concepts of them; philosophers of mind should be concerned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-kornblith/epistemologists-should-be-concerned-with-knowledge-and-justification/) [Hilary Kornblith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-kornblith/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dfa/hilary-kornblith-11063_concepts_epistemologists-should-be-concerned-with_791073.jpg) > [Chemists in earlier centuries were quite interested in the nature of acids. They had no interest in analysing their concept of acid.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-kornblith/chemists-in-earlier-centuries-were-quite-interested-in-the-nature-of/) [Hilary Kornblith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-kornblith/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19b/hilary-kornblith-11063_acid_chemists-in-earlier-centuries-were-quite_1949469.jpg) > [One of the goals of scientific theorising is to develop concepts which are adequate to the phenomena under study. In my view,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-kornblith/one-of-the-goals-of-scientific-theorising-is-to-develop-concepts/) [Hilary Kornblith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-kornblith/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/044/hilary-kornblith-11063_adequate_one-of-the-goals-of-scientific-theorisin_2071130.jpg) > [The experimentalists think that we can only get at our concepts by way of empirical investigation, while the armchair philosophers think that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-kornblith/the-experimentalists-think-that-we-can-only-get-at-our-concepts-by/) [Hilary Kornblith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-kornblith/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2c5/hilary-kornblith-11063_armchairs_the-experimentalists-think-that-we-can-o_2649037.jpg) ## Other authors on Concepts ## More by Hilary Kornblith > [I think that when I first suggested the idea that knowledge should be viewed as a natural kind, many people thought this was just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-kornblith/i-think-that-when-i-first-suggested-the-idea-that-knowledge-should-be/) [Hilary Kornblith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-kornblith/) > [The fact that these scientific theories have a fine track record of successful prediction and explanation speaks for itself. (Which is not to say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-kornblith/the-fact-that-these-scientific-theories-have-a-fine-track-record-of/) [Hilary Kornblith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-kornblith/) > [I am quite wedded to the view that epistemologists should concern themselves with knowledge rather than our concept of knowledge. The analogy I like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-kornblith/i-am-quite-wedded-to-the-view-that-epistemologists-should-concern/) [Hilary Kornblith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-kornblith/) > [The role of empirical work in informing our philosophical theories, as I see it, is not that it gives us a better view of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-kornblith/the-role-of-empirical-work-in-informing-our-philosophical-theories-as/) [Hilary Kornblith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-kornblith/) > [Here, as in so many other cases, however, it turns out that a very commonsensical idea looks far less attractive when one examines some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-kornblith/here-as-in-so-many-other-cases-however-it-turns-out-that-a-very/) [Hilary Kornblith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-kornblith/) > [The kind of approach I take is different from much of experimental philosophy. Although the experimental philosophers and I are certainly in agreement about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-kornblith/the-kind-of-approach-i-take-is-different-from-much-of-experimental/) [Hilary Kornblith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-kornblith/) > [The fact that we have been able to develop a successful science, which issues in ever more accurate predictions and broader explanations, is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-kornblith/the-fact-that-we-have-been-able-to-develop-a-successful-science-which/) [Hilary Kornblith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-kornblith/) > [By putting the first-person point of view in a naturalistic perspective, I believe that we may genuinely come to understand it for the first…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-kornblith/by-putting-the-first-person-point-of-view-in-a-naturalistic/) [Hilary Kornblith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-kornblith/) > [The worry that unreflective belief acquisition may be unreliable, after all, applies equally to reflective belief acquisition: it too may be unreliable. To my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-kornblith/the-worry-that-unreflective-belief-acquisition-may-be-unreliable/) [Hilary Kornblith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-kornblith/) > [When I got to college, I planned to be a math major, and, in addition to signing up for some math courses, I decided…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-kornblith/when-i-got-to-college-i-planned-to-be-a-math-major-and-in-addition-to/) [Hilary Kornblith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-kornblith/) > [When reflection is thereby demystified, I believe that the temptation to view human knowledge as different in kind from animal knowledge is undermined.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-kornblith/when-reflection-is-thereby-demystified-i-believe-that-the-temptation/) [Hilary Kornblith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-kornblith/) > [Internalist approaches to epistemology, I believe, have a great deal of intuitive appeal. Internalists believe that the features in virtue of which a belief…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-kornblith/internalist-approaches-to-epistemology-i-believe-have-a-great-deal-of/) [Hilary Kornblith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-kornblith/) > [What we need to do, however, is figure out what our best available theories of the mind suggest about epistemological issues, while we recognise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-kornblith/what-we-need-to-do-however-is-figure-out-what-our-best-available/) [Hilary Kornblith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-kornblith/) > [I largely defer to the cognitive ethologists. I believe that the arguments that they make on this score are extremely persuasive. More than this,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-kornblith/i-largely-defer-to-the-cognitive-ethologists-i-believe-that-the/) [Hilary Kornblith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-kornblith/) > [Rather, although belief may be adequate for explaining the behavior of individual animals - an animal which believes that p will behave no differently…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-kornblith/rather-although-belief-may-be-adequate-for-explaining-the-behavior-of/) [Hilary Kornblith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-kornblith/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/concepts/hilary-kornblith/#itemlist", "name": "7 Concepts Quotes By Hilary Kornblith", "numberOfItems": 7, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I am quite wedded to the view that epistemologists should concern themselves with knowledge rather than our concept of knowledge. 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They had no interest in analysing their concept of acid. After all, they knew that their understanding of acids was at a fairly primitive level, and what they wanted to do was understand something about the world better - the nature of acidity - not something about their own concepts.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Hilary Kornblith" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-kornblith/chemists-in-earlier-centuries-were-quite-interested-in-the-nature-of/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19b/hilary-kornblith-11063_acid_chemists-in-earlier-centuries-were-quite_1949469.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19b/hilary-kornblith-11063_acid_chemists-in-earlier-centuries-were-quite_1949469.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19b/hilary-kornblith-11063_acid_chemists-in-earlier-centuries-were-quite_1949469.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Chemists in earlier centuries were quite interested in the nature of acids. 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We want to know what knowledge actually amounts to, not what our folk concept of knowledge is, since, just as with our pretheoretical concept of acidity, it might contain all sorts of misunderstandings and leave out all manner of important things.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Hilary Kornblith" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-kornblith/one-of-the-goals-of-scientific-theorising-is-to-develop-concepts/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/044/hilary-kornblith-11063_adequate_one-of-the-goals-of-scientific-theorisin_2071130.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/044/hilary-kornblith-11063_adequate_one-of-the-goals-of-scientific-theorisin_2071130.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/044/hilary-kornblith-11063_adequate_one-of-the-goals-of-scientific-theorisin_2071130.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“One of the goals of scientific theorising is to develop concepts which are adequate to the phenomena under…” — Hilary Kornblith", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 7, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The experimentalists think that we can only get at our concepts by way of empirical investigation, while the armchair philosophers think that we can skip the experiments and figure things out from our armchairs. What they have in common, however, is regarding our concepts as the targets of philosophical theorising, and I just don't think that, in the vast majority of cases, the subject matter of philosophy has our concepts as its target.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Hilary Kornblith" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-kornblith/the-experimentalists-think-that-we-can-only-get-at-our-concepts-by/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2c5/hilary-kornblith-11063_armchairs_the-experimentalists-think-that-we-can-o_2649037.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2c5/hilary-kornblith-11063_armchairs_the-experimentalists-think-that-we-can-o_2649037.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2c5/hilary-kornblith-11063_armchairs_the-experimentalists-think-that-we-can-o_2649037.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The experimentalists think that we can only get at our concepts by way of empirical investigation, while the…” — Hilary Kornblith", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "CollectionPage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/concepts/hilary-kornblith/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/concepts/hilary-kornblith/", "name": "Concepts Quotes by Hilary Kornblith", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/concepts/hilary-kornblith/#itemlist" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/35c/hilary-kornblith-11063_analogies_i-am-quite-wedded-to-the-view-that-epist_250792.jpg" }, "description": "7 Concepts quotes by Hilary Kornblith. 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