Nelson Goodman Quotes

11 quotes in 222 categories

• For if as scientists we seek simplicity, then obviously we try the simplest surviving theory first, and retreat from it only when it proves false.…
• We aim at simplicity and hope for truth.
• I am concerned, rather, that there should not be more things dreamt of in my philosophy than there actually are in heaven and earth.
• Coming to understand a painting or a symphony in an unfamiliar style, to recognize the work of an artist or school, to see or hear…
• Truth cannot be defined or tested by agreement with 'the world'; for not only do truths differ for different worlds but the nature of agreement…
• We make versions, and true versions make worlds.
• Any effort... to make the obscure obvious is likely to be unappealing, for the penalty of failure is confusion while the reward of success is…
• What intrigues us as a problem, and what will satisfy us as a solution, will depend upon the line we draw between what is already…
• An answer, once found, is dull; and the only remaining interest lies in a further effort to render equally dull what is still obscure enough…
• Rules and particular inferences alike are justified by being brought into agreement with each other. A rule is amended if it yields an inference we…
• If we are ready to tolerate everything as understood, there is nothing left to explain; while if we sourly refuse to take anything, even tentatively,…

Browse Nelson Goodman Quotes by Category