--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I don't think that anything of any…" description: "\"I don't think that anything of any consequence is known a priori: all our knowledge is built up by modifying the lore passed on to us by our ancestors ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b17/philip-kitcher-4028_ancestor_i-don-t-think-that-anything-of-any-conse_221107.jpg" --- # I don't think that anything of any consequence is known a… ![“I don't think that anything of any consequence is known a priori: all our knowledge is built up by modifying the lore passed on to us by our ancestors in light of our experiences, and the best a philosopher can do is to learn as much about what has been discovered in various empirical fields, and…” quote by Philip Kitcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b17/philip-kitcher-4028_ancestor_i-don-t-think-that-anything-of-any-conse_221107.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b17/philip-kitcher-4028_ancestor_i-don-t-think-that-anything-of-any-conse_221107.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b17/philip-kitcher-4028_ancestor_i-don-t-think-that-anything-of-any-conse_221107.jpg) > “I don't think that anything of any consequence is known a priori: all our knowledge is built up by modifying the lore passed on to us by our ancestors in light of our experiences, and the best a philosopher can do is to learn as much about what has been discovered in various empirical fields, and use it to try to craft an improved synthesis.” [Philip Kitcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kitcher/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Knowledge builds on inherited ideas, refined by experience; philosophers should synthesize empirical findings. **In simple terms:** We learn from ancestors and experiments, then improve ideas. Key Takeaway Study history, test ideas, integrate insights. Themes knowledge philosophy science Mood analytical thoughtful Type philosophical educational When to use this quote - educational curricula - research projects - policy development - public discourse Key Concepts empiricism synthetic reasoning Questions to Reflect On - What empirical fields most challenge your assumptions? - How can interdisciplinary dialogue be fostered? A Different Perspective Complex synthesis can be hindered by disciplinary silos. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ancestor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ancestor/) [Consequence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consequence/) [Crafts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crafts/) [Knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge/) [Light](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/light/) [Modifying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/modifying/) [Philosopher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosopher/) [Philosophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [“If the intuition must conform to the nature of the objects, I do not see how we can know anything of them a priori.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/if-the-intuition-must-conform-to-the-nature-of-the-objects-i-do-not/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [A priori Logical propositions are such as can be known a priori without study of the actual world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/a-priori-logical-propositions-are-such-as-can-be-known-a-priori/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [Whoever wishes to become a philosopher must learn not to be frightened by absurdities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/whoever-wishes-to-become-a-philosopher-must-learn-not-to-be/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [“This seems plainly absurd; but whoever wishes to become a philosopher must learn not to be frightened by absurdities. 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They've…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/in-all-of-these-years-you-know-the-obamacare-bill-itself-had-been/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [When it comes time to make the scenes concrete and shoot them, I want the freedom for it to exist which means adding, subtracting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abdellatif-kechiche/when-it-comes-time-to-make-the-scenes-concrete-and-shoot-them-i-want/) [Abdellatif Kechiche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abdellatif-kechiche/) > [Today we can say that at last the director writes the film. The image--its plastic composition and the way it is set in time,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-bazin/today-we-can-say-that-at-last-the-director-writes-the-film-the-image/) [Andre Bazin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-bazin/) > [Modifying ourselves is a natural process because we are a product of nature and what we do is a product of nature. 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Artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/art-today-is-a-new-kind-of-instrument-an-instrument-for-modifying/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [When people can say to themselves - "What I'm doing is justified," there is little chance of their modifying a behavior.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanton-peele/when-people-can-say-to-themselves-what-i-m-doing-is-justified-there/) [Stanton Peele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanton-peele/) > [An order given in battle, an instruction issued by the master of a sailing ship, a cry for help, are as powerful in modifying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bronislaw-malinowski/an-order-given-in-battle-an-instruction-issued-by-the-master-of-a/) [Bronislaw Malinowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bronislaw-malinowski/) ## More by Philip Kitcher > [I'm a fan of Hugh Kenner, Richard Ellman, Lionel Trilling and Frank Kermode. All these people have taught me how to read - but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kitcher/i-m-a-fan-of-hugh-kenner-richard-ellman-lionel-trilling-and-frank/) [Philip Kitcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kitcher/) > [Refined religion is aimed at realizing ethical values, including the fostering of human lives and human communities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kitcher/refined-religion-is-aimed-at-realizing-ethical-values-including-the/) [Philip Kitcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kitcher/) > [Many of the greatest works of philosophy seem to me to be valuable not because of their arguments, but because they offer us perspectives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kitcher/many-of-the-greatest-works-of-philosophy-seem-to-me-to-be-valuable/) [Philip Kitcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kitcher/) > [As I read Mann in German for the first time, the full achievement - both literary and philosophical - of Death in Venice struck…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kitcher/as-i-read-mann-in-german-for-the-first-time-the-full-achievement-both/) [Philip Kitcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kitcher/) > [Look at Mann's reading habits, his explicit comments on Nietzsche, and his copy of Birth of Tragedy, and it starts to seem doubtful that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kitcher/look-at-mann-s-reading-habits-his-explicit-comments-on-nietzsche-and/) [Philip Kitcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kitcher/) > [My ethical naturalism sees us as facing the predicament of being social animals without evolved adaptations that make social life easy. The fundamental problem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kitcher/my-ethical-naturalism-sees-us-as-facing-the-predicament-of-being/) [Philip Kitcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kitcher/) > [So my methodological approach is to draw on many different features in highlighting different facets of the novella (and the opera and the film).](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kitcher/so-my-methodological-approach-is-to-draw-on-many-different-features/) [Philip Kitcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kitcher/) > [In my view, we ought to replace the notion of analytic philosophy by that of synthetic philosophy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kitcher/in-my-view-we-ought-to-replace-the-notion-of-analytic-philosophy-by/) [Philip Kitcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kitcher/) > [Philosophers ought to aspire to know lots of different things and to forge useful synthetic perspectives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kitcher/philosophers-ought-to-aspire-to-know-lots-of-different-things-and-to/) [Philip Kitcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kitcher/) > [The balance between literature and philosophy in Schopenhauer and Nietzsche is different from that struck in the novella, but, as Mann clearly pointed out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kitcher/the-balance-between-literature-and-philosophy-in-schopenhauer-and/) [Philip Kitcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kitcher/) > [Because the problems are objective features of the human situation - social animals without the capacities for making social life come easily - ethics…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kitcher/because-the-problems-are-objective-features-of-the-human-situation/) [Philip Kitcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kitcher/) > [I'm very concerned about the increasing distortion of research by the intrusion of the market. Universities are beginning to see science as a means…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kitcher/i-m-very-concerned-about-the-increasing-distortion-of-research-by-the/) [Philip Kitcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kitcher/) > [There's a disciplined erotic component to it, so that the height of sexual contact is the embrace, the modest touch, a relatively chaste kiss.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kitcher/there-s-a-disciplined-erotic-component-to-it-so-that-the-height-of/) [Philip Kitcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kitcher/) > [The classical allusions and the Platonic disquisitions on beauty are no longer a form of cover, but integral to Aschenbach's complex sexuality. Moreover, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kitcher/the-classical-allusions-and-the-platonic-disquisitions-on-beauty-are/) [Philip Kitcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kitcher/) > [My ideal of conversation that includes wide representation of perspectives, informed by the consensus view of current experts, pursued with an attempt to find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kitcher/my-ideal-of-conversation-that-includes-wide-representation-of/) [Philip Kitcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kitcher/) [Explore all 117 Philip Kitcher quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kitcher/) ## More Ancestor quotes > [A lot of indigenous cultures are deeply involved in working with ancestor spirits, elemental spirits, and demons. 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Our cousins and ancestors were no less curious than we are,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-d-wilson/going-where-no-man-has-gone-before-is-more-difficult-than-it-sounds/) [N.D. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-d-wilson/) > [I use the phrase 'sibling society' to suggest a culture fundamentally without fathers, mothers, grandfathers, grandmothers, or ancestors. The thinking is horizontal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/i-use-the-phrase-sibling-society-to-suggest-a-culture-fundamentally/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [“A very long time ago, some 2.5 million years B.C., the mother of human species as we know it, our ultimate ancestor, appeared in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-f-cantor/a-very-long-time-ago-some-2-5-million-years-b-c-the-mother-of-human/) [Norman F. 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