--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To admit one's own presuppositions and to…" description: "\"To admit one's own presuppositions and to point out the presuppositions of others is therefore to maintain that all reasoning is, in the nature of the ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c68/cornelius-van-til-30277_cases_to-admit-one-s-own-presuppositions-and-t_742480.png" --- # To admit one's own presuppositions and to point out the… ![“To admit one's own presuppositions and to point out the presuppositions of others is therefore to maintain that all reasoning is, in the nature of the case, circular reasoning. The starting-point, the method, and the conclusion are always involved in one another.” quote by Cornelius Van Til](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c68/cornelius-van-til-30277_cases_to-admit-one-s-own-presuppositions-and-t_742480.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c68/cornelius-van-til-30277_cases_to-admit-one-s-own-presuppositions-and-t_742480.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c68/cornelius-van-til-30277_cases_to-admit-one-s-own-presuppositions-and-t_742480.png) > “To admit one's own presuppositions and to point out the presuppositions of others is therefore to maintain that all reasoning is, in the nature of the case, circular reasoning. The starting-point, the method, and the conclusion are always involved in one another.” [Cornelius Van Til](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelius-van-til/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Reasoning often loops back on its own assumptions, making arguments circular unless premises are examined. **In simple terms:** Reasoning can be circular if we ignore hidden assumptions. Key Takeaway Question your own premises. Themes logic philosophy critical thinking Mood analytical skeptical Type philosophical educational When to use this quote - debate - academic writing - personal decision making - ethical analysis Key Concepts circular reasoning presuppositions Questions to Reflect On - Are your conclusions based on unexamined assumptions? - How can you break the circular loop? A Different Perspective Circular reasoning can obscure truth if not challenged. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Conclusion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conclusion/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Presuppositions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/presuppositions/) [Reasoning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reasoning/) [Starting point](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/starting-point/) ## Related quotes > [“Without the presuppositions of the Christian faith the individual is either nothing or becomes everything.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/the-nature-and-destiny-of-man-reinhold-niebuhr/without-the-presuppositions-of-the-christian-faith-the-individual-is/) The Nature and Destiny of Man Reinhold Niebuhr > [I agree with you that it is important to examine our presuppositions, throughly and once for all, in order to establish something solid. For…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-leibniz/i-agree-with-you-that-it-is-important-to-examine-our-presuppositions/) [Gottfried Leibniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-leibniz/) > [Whether one believes in miracles or the miraculous has mostly to do with the presuppositions one brings to the subject.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-metaxas/whether-one-believes-in-miracles-or-the-miraculous-has-mostly-to-do/) [Eric Metaxas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-metaxas/) > [“There is a flow to history and culture. This flow is rooted and has its wellspring in the thoughts of people. People are unique…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-august-schaeffer/there-is-a-flow-to-history-and-culture-this-flow-is-rooted-and-has/) [Francis August Schaeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-august-schaeffer/) > [Science, like art, religion, commerce, warfare, and even sleep, is based on presuppositions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-bateson/science-like-art-religion-commerce-warfare-and-even-sleep-is-based-on-2/) [Gregory Bateson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-bateson/) > [Most people catch their presuppositions from their family and surrounding society, the way that a child catches the measles. But people with understanding realize…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/most-people-catch-their-presuppositions-from-their-family-and-2/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Everyone has a set of presuppositions: what gender is, what it's not. 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The grid through which he sees…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/people-have-presuppositions-by-presuppositions-we-mean-the-basic-way/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The starting point of sanctification is the filthiness, corruption, or stain of sin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-ames/the-starting-point-of-sanctification-is-the-filthiness-corruption-or/) [William Ames](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-ames/) > [“Rock is a commercially made mass music and this must be the starting point for its celebration as well as for its dismissal.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-frith/rock-is-a-commercially-made-mass-music-and-this-must-be-the-starting/) Simon Frith > [“As we look over the list of the early leaders of the republic, Washington, John Adams, Hamilton, and others, we discern that they were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-truslow-adams/as-we-look-over-the-list-of-the-early-leaders-of-the-republic/) [James Truslow Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-truslow-adams/) > [When I wrote my fictional novels, they always had a starting point of something real. Those images that are not real are exactly the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-ove-knausgard/when-i-wrote-my-fictional-novels-they-always-had-a-starting-point-of/) [Karl Ove Knausgard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-ove-knausgard/) ## More by Cornelius Van Til > [The only proof for the existence of God is that without God you couldn't prove anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelius-van-til/the-only-proof-for-the-existence-of-god-is-that-without-god-you/) [Cornelius Van Til](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelius-van-til/) > [“How shortsighted and how uncultured, then, are the efforts of believers in Christ when they seek for snatches of worldly culture for themselves by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelius-van-til/how-shortsighted-and-how-uncultured-then-are-the-efforts-of-believers/) [Cornelius Van Til](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelius-van-til/) > [ He \[Christ\] came to bring peace, to be sure, but the peace that He came to bring must be built upon the complete destruction… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelius-van-til/he-christ-came-to-bring-peace-to-be-sure-but-the-peace-that-he-came/) [Cornelius Van Til](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelius-van-til/) > [Agnosticism is epistemologically self-contradictory on its own assumptions because its claim to make no assertion about ultimate reality rests upon a most comprehensive assertion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelius-van-til/agnosticism-is-epistemologically-self-contradictory-on-its-own/) [Cornelius Van Til](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelius-van-til/) > [So, as we have our tea, I propose not only to operate on your heart so as to change your will, but also on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelius-van-til/so-as-we-have-our-tea-i-propose-not-only-to-operate-on-your-heart-so/) [Cornelius Van Til](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelius-van-til/) > [ “\[The intellect of fallen man\] may be compared to a buzz-saw that is sharp and shining, ready to cut the boards that come to… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelius-van-til/the-intellect-of-fallen-man-may-be-compared-to-a-buzz-saw-that-is/) [Cornelius Van Til](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelius-van-til/) > [When man thinks in self-conscious submission to the voluntary revelation of the self-sufficient God, he has therewith the only possible ground of certainty for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelius-van-til/when-man-thinks-in-self-conscious-submission-to-the-voluntary/) [Cornelius Van Til](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelius-van-til/) > [Anti-theism presupposes Theism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelius-van-til/anti-theism-presupposes-theism/) [Cornelius Van Til](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelius-van-til/) > [It is not kindness to tell patients that need strong medicine that nothing serious is wrong with them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelius-van-til/it-is-not-kindness-to-tell-patients-that-need-strong-medicine-that/) [Cornelius Van Til](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelius-van-til/) > [There are those, of course, who deny that they need any form of authority. 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I hold that belief in God is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelius-van-til/i-shall-not-convert-you-at-the-end-of-my-argument-i-think-the/) [Cornelius Van Til](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelius-van-til/) > [If one does not make human knowledge wholly dependent upon the original self-knowledge and consequent revelation of God to man, then man will have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelius-van-til/if-one-does-not-make-human-knowledge-wholly-dependent-upon-the/) [Cornelius Van Til](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelius-van-til/) [Explore all 17 Cornelius Van Til quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelius-van-til/) ## More Cases quotes > [The time that one gains cannot be accumulated in a storehouse; it is contradictory to want to save up existence, which, the fact is,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/the-time-that-one-gains-cannot-be-accumulated-in-a-storehouse-it-is/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [It can sometimes make people fold into themselves and kind of run away, but I think in this case these characters are being forced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-deschanel/it-can-sometimes-make-people-fold-into-themselves-and-kind-of-run/) [Emily Deschanel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-deschanel/) > [I'd always have grease in at least two places, in case the umpires would ask me to wipe one off. 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