--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In the philosophic sense, observation…" description: "\"In the philosophic sense, observation shows and experiment teaches.\" — Claude Bernard" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ce/claude-bernard-7455_experiments_in-the-philosophic-sense-observation-sho_1947173.png" --- # In the philosophic sense, observation shows and experiment… ![“In the philosophic sense, observation shows and experiment teaches.” quote by Claude Bernard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ce/claude-bernard-7455_experiments_in-the-philosophic-sense-observation-sho_1947173.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ce/claude-bernard-7455_experiments_in-the-philosophic-sense-observation-sho_1947173.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ce/claude-bernard-7455_experiments_in-the-philosophic-sense-observation-sho_1947173.png) > “In the philosophic sense, observation shows and experiment teaches.” [Claude Bernard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-bernard/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Observation reveals facts; experiments explain underlying mechanisms. **In simple terms:** Seeing shows, testing explains. Key Takeaway Use both observation and experiment. Themes science methodology knowledge Mood analytical inquisitive Type scientific educational When to use this quote - laboratory research - field studies - clinical trials - educational labs Key Concepts empiricism causality Questions to Reflect On - What observations become questions? - How to design unbiased experiments? A Different Perspective Experiments can be limited by bias or ethics. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Experiments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experiments/) [Observation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/observation/) [Philosophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy/) [Research](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/research/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) ## Related quotes > [The great experimental principle, then, is doubt, that philosophic doubt which leaves to the mind its freedom and initiative, and from which the virtues…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-bernard/the-great-experimental-principle-then-is-doubt-that-philosophic-doubt/) [Claude Bernard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-bernard/) > [Men who have excessive faith in their theories ... make poor observations, because they choose among the results of their experiments only what suits…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-bernard/men-who-have-excessive-faith-in-their-theories-make-poor-observations/) [Claude Bernard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-bernard/) > [Philosophic argument, especially that drawn from the vastness of the universe, in comparison with the apparent insignificance of this globe, has sometimes shaken my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-webster/philosophic-argument-especially-that-drawn-from-the-vastness-of-the/) [Daniel Webster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-webster/) > [Hence poetry is something more philosophic and of graver import than history, since its statements are of the nature rather of universals, whereas those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/hence-poetry-is-something-more-philosophic-and-of-graver-import-than/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [If we study Japanese art, we see a man who is undoubtedly wise, philosophic and intelligent, who spends his time doing what? 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And, at the end, when philosophic thought has done its best, the wonder remains.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/philosophy-begins-in-wonder-and-at-the-end-when-philosophic-thought/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [The Germans are the most philosophic people in the world, and the greatest smokers: now I trace their philosophy to their smoking. Smoking has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-henry-borrow/the-germans-are-the-most-philosophic-people-in-the-world-and-the/) [George Henry Borrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-henry-borrow/) > [It takes an unusually philosophic mind to accept that all one’s suffering might be to no end, really, in the larger scheme of things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-takes-an-unusually-philosophic-mind-to-accept-that-all-one-s/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Claude Bernard > [In every enterprise ... the mind is always reasoning, and, even when we seem to act without a motive, an instinctive logic still directs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-bernard/in-every-enterprise-the-mind-is-always-reasoning-and-even-when-we/) [Claude Bernard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-bernard/) > [Descriptive anatomy is to physiology what geography is to history, and just as it is not enough to know the typography of a country…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-bernard/descriptive-anatomy-is-to-physiology-what-geography-is-to-history-and/) [Claude Bernard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-bernard/) > [Mediocre men often have the most acquired knowledge. 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It is valuable only for the idea attached to it, or for the proof which it furnishes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-bernard/a-fact-in-itself-is-nothing-it-is-valuable-only-for-the-idea-attached/) [Claude Bernard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-bernard/) > [It is what we know already that often prevents us from learning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-bernard/it-is-what-we-know-already-that-often-prevents-us-from-learning/) [Claude Bernard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-bernard/) > [We must remain, in a word, in an intellectual disposition which seems paradoxical, but which, in my opinion, represents the true mind of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-bernard/we-must-remain-in-a-word-in-an-intellectual-disposition-which-seems/) [Claude Bernard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-bernard/) > [The fact that knowledge endlessly recedes as the investigator is about to grasp it is what constitutes at the same time his torment and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-bernard/the-fact-that-knowledge-endlessly-recedes-as-the-investigator-is/) [Claude Bernard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-bernard/) > [But while I accept specialization in the practice, I reject it utterly in the theory of science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-bernard/but-while-i-accept-specialization-in-the-practice-i-reject-it-utterly/) [Claude Bernard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-bernard/) > [Men who have excessive faith in their theories ... make poor observations, because they choose among the results of their experiments only what suits…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-bernard/men-who-have-excessive-faith-in-their-theories-make-poor-observations/) [Claude Bernard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-bernard/) > [First causes are outside the realm of science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-bernard/first-causes-are-outside-the-realm-of-science/) [Claude Bernard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-bernard/) [Explore all 91 Claude Bernard quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-bernard/) ## More Experiments quotes > [I wrote when I was a young teen, but I didn't put an eye on the available markets until I was seventeen. 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