--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Logic may be conceived as ruling out what…" description: "\"“Logic may be conceived as ruling out what is absolutely impossible, and thus determining the field of what in the absence of empirical knowledge is ab..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/478/morris-f-cohen-101819_logic_logic-may-be-conceived-as-ruling-out-wha_562435.jpg" --- # Logic may be conceived as ruling out what is absolutely… ![“Logic may be conceived as ruling out what is absolutely impossible, and thus determining the field of what in the absence of empirical knowledge is abstractly possible.” quote by Morris F. Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/478/morris-f-cohen-101819_logic_logic-may-be-conceived-as-ruling-out-wha_562435.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/478/morris-f-cohen-101819_logic_logic-may-be-conceived-as-ruling-out-wha_562435.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/478/morris-f-cohen-101819_logic_logic-may-be-conceived-as-ruling-out-wha_562435.jpg) > ““Logic may be conceived as ruling out what is absolutely impossible, and thus determining the field of what in the absence of empirical knowledge is abstractly possible.”” [Morris F. Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/morris-f-cohen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Logic eliminates impossibilities, defining what is abstractly possible without empirical data. **In simple terms:** Logic rules out impossibility, defines possible ideas. Key Takeaway Use logic to clarify theoretical possibilities. Themes logic philosophy possibility abstraction Mood analytical inquisitive Type Logic:1 Possibility:1 Possible:1 Logic Conceived:1 Abstractly Possible:1 Knowledge Abstractly:0 When to use this quote - scientific research - philosophical debate - strategic planning Key Concepts modal logic epistemology theoretical reasoning Questions to Reflect On - How does logic shape your decision making? - What are limits of abstract possibility? A Different Perspective Pure abstraction may lack practical relevance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abstractly Possible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstractly-possible-4659559/) [Knowledge Abstractly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge-abstractly-4659560/) [Logic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/logic/) [Logic Conceived](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/logic-conceived-4659558/) [Possibility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/possibility/) [Possible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/possible/) ## Related quotes > [“Nothing is necessitated whose opposite is possible.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/nothing-is-necessitated-whose-opposite-is-possible/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“We all know, intuitively, that if something is humanly possible, it is possible for ourselves.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vironika-tugaleva/we-all-know-intuitively-that-if-something-is-humanly-possible-it-is/) [Vironika Tugaleva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vironika-tugaleva/) > [Anything is Possible, it's not going to come to you, you have to work to get it, it might be a rough road but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabih-malaki/anything-is-possible-it-s-not-going-to-come-to-you-you-have-to-work/) [Rabih Malaki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabih-malaki/) > [“Never be afraid to wish for what you really want in life. Wishes are possible manifestation of thoughts.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/never-be-afraid-to-wish-for-what-you-really-want-in-life-wishes-are/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [When we believe in the impossible, it becomes possible, and we can do all kinds of extraordinary things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-l-engle/when-we-believe-in-the-impossible-it-becomes-possible-and-we-can-do/) [Madeleine L'Engle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-l-engle/) > [I have learned that in due time the impossible become possible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-paul-steinbruck/i-have-learned-that-in-due-time-the-impossible-become-possible/) [Robert Paul Steinbruck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-paul-steinbruck/) > [“If you have never did a mistake, then death is impossibe, but then, death is a possible mistake.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/if-you-have-never-did-a-mistake-then-death-is-impossibe-but-then/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [“Having no applicable skills, in any possible area whatsoever, effectively makes me the master of redundancy. But that info is obsolete, like my insults…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-advise/having-no-applicable-skills-in-any-possible-area-whatsoever/) [Will Advise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-advise/) > [Companies are not charitable enterprises: They hire workers to make profits. In the United States, this logic still works. In Europe, it hardly does.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-samuelson/companies-are-not-charitable-enterprises-they-hire-workers-to-make/) [Paul Samuelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-samuelson/) > [Both fact and logic seem to me to support the view that savings invested in privately owned economic tools of production amount to an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-a-harper/both-fact-and-logic-seem-to-me-to-support-the-view-that-savings/) [F. A. Harper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-a-harper/) > [ Just between you and me, shouldn’t the World Bank be encouraging MORE migration of the dirty industries to the LDCs \[Less Developed Countries\]?... I… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-summers/just-between-you-and-me-shouldn-t-the-world-bank-be-encouraging-more/) [Lawrence Summers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-summers/) > [“What you owe your critics are your RESULTS not explanations not defence just RESULTS.Evidence terminates Arguments.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fela-durotoye/what-you-owe-your-critics-are-your-results-not-explanations-not/) [Fela Durotoye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fela-durotoye/) > [“When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but with creatures bristling with prejudice and motivated by pride and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-carnegie/when-dealing-with-people-remember-you-are-not-dealing-with-creatures/) [Dale Carnegie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-carnegie/) > [If we were to expect the unexpected, then the unexpected would become expected, so we might as well say expect the expected, but then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-we-were-to-expect-the-unexpected-then-the-unexpected-would-become/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Logic is essentially a tool for getting at truth; it is the tool, for without it no reasoning is possible in any field of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-oderberg/logic-is-essentially-a-tool-for-getting-at-truth-it-is-the-tool-for/) [David Oderberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-oderberg/) ## More by Morris F. Cohen > [“Yet it is unassailably true that so long as we lack omniscience and do not know all of the future, all our generalizations are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/morris-f-cohen/yet-it-is-unassailably-true-that-so-long-as-we-lack-omniscience-and/) [Morris F. Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/morris-f-cohen/) [Explore all 2 Morris F. Cohen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/morris-f-cohen/) ## More Logic quotes > [Logic is essentially a tool for getting at truth; it is the tool, for without it no reasoning is possible in any field of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-oderberg/logic-is-essentially-a-tool-for-getting-at-truth-it-is-the-tool-for/) [David Oderberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-oderberg/) > [If we were to expect the unexpected, then the unexpected would become expected, so we might as well say expect the expected, but then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-we-were-to-expect-the-unexpected-then-the-unexpected-would-become/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but with creatures bristling with prejudice and motivated by pride and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-carnegie/when-dealing-with-people-remember-you-are-not-dealing-with-creatures/) [Dale Carnegie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-carnegie/) > [“What you owe your critics are your RESULTS not explanations not defence just RESULTS.Evidence terminates Arguments.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fela-durotoye/what-you-owe-your-critics-are-your-results-not-explanations-not/) [Fela Durotoye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fela-durotoye/) > [ Just between you and me, shouldn’t the World Bank be encouraging MORE migration of the dirty industries to the LDCs \[Less Developed Countries\]?... I… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-summers/just-between-you-and-me-shouldn-t-the-world-bank-be-encouraging-more/) [Lawrence Summers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-summers/) > [Both fact and logic seem to me to support the view that savings invested in privately owned economic tools of production amount to an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-a-harper/both-fact-and-logic-seem-to-me-to-support-the-view-that-savings/) [F. A. Harper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-a-harper/) > [Companies are not charitable enterprises: They hire workers to make profits. In the United States, this logic still works. In Europe, it hardly does.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-samuelson/companies-are-not-charitable-enterprises-they-hire-workers-to-make/) [Paul Samuelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-samuelson/) > [“Religion, like science, is only noteworthy when it emphasizes a matter of what is true rather than whose belief is greater or lesser or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/criss-jami/religion-like-science-is-only-noteworthy-when-it-emphasizes-a-matter/) [Criss Jami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/criss-jami/) > [Trying to understand the way nature works involves a most terrible test of human reasoning ability. It involves subtle trickery, beautiful tightropes of logic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-p-feynman/trying-to-understand-the-way-nature-works-involves-a-most-terrible/) [Richard P. Feynman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-p-feynman/) > [The dialectic is neither fiction nor mysticism, but a science of the forms of our thinking insofar as it is not limited to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-trotsky/the-dialectic-is-neither-fiction-nor-mysticism-but-a-science-of-the/) [Leon Trotsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-trotsky/) > [In presenting a mathematical argument the great thing is to give the educated reader the chance to catch on at once to the momentary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edensor-littlewood/in-presenting-a-mathematical-argument-the-great-thing-is-to-give-the/) [John Edensor Littlewood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edensor-littlewood/) > [As far as I know, the question of whether and how it could be strategically or morally justified was never the subject of open…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/as-far-as-i-know-the-question-of-whether-and-how-it-could-be/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Humans suffer from self-centred notions as to the nature of life. Humans assume that alien life forms should conform to standards that match our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-perry/humans-suffer-from-self-centred-notions-as-to-the-nature-of-life/) [Steve Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-perry/) > [Intuitionists think that there are cases in which, say, some identity statement between real numbers is neither true nor false, even though we know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-f-heck/intuitionists-think-that-there-are-cases-in-which-say-some-identity/) [Richard F. Heck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-f-heck/) > [There's a simple arithmetical logic at work. Build more unaffordable and not always architecturally sympathetic apartments, watch the rents rise, the tarts leave, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-jacobson/there-s-a-simple-arithmetical-logic-at-work-build-more-unaffordable/) [Howard Jacobson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-jacobson/) [Browse all 3,202 Logic quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/logic/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Logic may be conceived as ruling out what is absolutely impossible, and thus determining the field of what in the absence of empirical knowledge is abstractly possible.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Morris F. 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