--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There is only one thing a philosopher can…" description: "\"There is only one thing a philosopher can be relied upon to do, and that is to contradict other philosophers.\" — William James" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/21c/william-james-228_philosopher_there-is-only-one-thing-a-philosopher-ca_2379501.png" --- # There is only one thing a philosopher can be relied upon… ![“There is only one thing a philosopher can be relied upon to do, and that is to contradict other philosophers.” quote by William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/21c/william-james-228_philosopher_there-is-only-one-thing-a-philosopher-ca_2379501.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/21c/william-james-228_philosopher_there-is-only-one-thing-a-philosopher-ca_2379501.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/21c/william-james-228_philosopher_there-is-only-one-thing-a-philosopher-ca_2379501.png) > “There is only one thing a philosopher can be relied upon to do, and that is to contradict other philosophers.” [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. It humorously suggests that philosophers are inherently contradictory, emphasizing the nature of philosophical debate and differing perspectives. **In simple terms:** Philosophers often disagree with each other. Key Takeaway Value diverse viewpoints in inquiry. Themes philosophy debate contradiction critical thinking Mood curious analytical open‑minded Type philosophical intellectual When to use this quote - academic discussion - ethical deliberation - policy analysis - personal belief formation Key Concepts logic epistemology dialectic Questions to Reflect On - How can disagreement lead to deeper understanding? - When is conflict productive? A Different Perspective The statement may oversimplify constructive dialogue. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Contradict Philosophers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contradict-philosophers-3728303/) [Philosopher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosopher/) [Philosopher Relied](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosopher-relied-3728304/) [Philosophers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophers/) [Philosophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy/) [Thing Philosopher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thing-philosopher-3748467/) ## Related quotes > [I am only a philosopher, and there is only one thing that a philosopher can be relied on to do, and that is, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/i-am-only-a-philosopher-and-there-is-only-one-thing-that-a/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [“But here's the most incredible thing about it: the philosopher isn't proposing that as a concept; he's simply articulating what humans believe about themselves.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sabina-berman/but-here-s-the-most-incredible-thing-about-it-the-philosopher-isn-t/) [Sabina Berman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sabina-berman/) > [“I may pronounce the toughest thing in which you take part is:- A Philosopher's Love.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yash-thakur/i-may-pronounce-the-toughest-thing-in-which-you-take-part-is-a/) [Yash Thakur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yash-thakur/) > [Contemporary philosophers, even the rationalistic minded ones, have on the whole agreed that no one has intelligibly banished the mystery of fact.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/contemporary-philosophers-even-the-rationalistic-minded-ones-have-on/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [“Mr. Pickwick was a philosopher, but philosophers are only men in armour, after all.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/mr-pickwick-was-a-philosopher-but-philosophers-are-only-men-in-armour/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [If experiments are performed thousands of times at all seasons and in every place without once producing the effects mentioned by your philosophers, poets,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/galileo-galilei/if-experiments-are-performed-thousands-of-times-at-all-seasons-and-in/) [Galileo Galilei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/galileo-galilei/) > [Science will always raise philosophical questions like, is any scientific theory or model correct? How do we know? Are unobserved things real? etc. and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-crane/science-will-always-raise-philosophical-questions-like-is-any/) [Tim Crane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-crane/) > [The only good thing that we owe to Plato and Aristotle is that they brought forward many arguments which we can use against the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/girolamo-savonarola/the-only-good-thing-that-we-owe-to-plato-and-aristotle-is-that-they/) [Girolamo Savonarola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/girolamo-savonarola/) > [The philosophers likewise assume that in Nature there is nothing in vain, so that everything that is not the product of human industry serves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maimonides/the-philosophers-likewise-assume-that-in-nature-there-is-nothing-in/) [Maimonides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maimonides/) > [I'm the best promoter in the world because I haven't taken a day off work since I left the penitentiary, and because I have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-king/i-m-the-best-promoter-in-the-world-because-i-haven-t-taken-a-day-off/) [Don King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-king/) > [ Men who are lovers of wisdom \[i.e., philosophers\] must be inquirers into many things. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heraclitus/men-who-are-lovers-of-wisdom-i-e-philosophers-must-be-inquirers-into/) [Heraclitus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heraclitus/) > [How do our philosophers act? Do they not inscribe their signatures to the very essays they write on the propriety of despising glory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/how-do-our-philosophers-act-do-they-not-inscribe-their-signatures-to/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [The philosophers of the Middle Ages demonstrated both that the Earth did not exist and also that it was flat. Today they are still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vilhjalmur-stefansson/the-philosophers-of-the-middle-ages-demonstrated-both-that-the-earth/) [Vilhjalmur Stefansson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vilhjalmur-stefansson/) > [But of all nations in the world the English are perhaps the least a nation of pure philosophers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-bagehot/but-of-all-nations-in-the-world-the-english-are-perhaps-the-least-a/) [Walter Bagehot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-bagehot/) > [In the very books in which philosophers bid us scorn fame, they inscribe their names.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/in-the-very-books-in-which-philosophers-bid-us-scorn-fame-they/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) ## More by William James > [Effort is the one strictly undervalued and original contribution we make to this world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/effort-is-the-one-strictly-undervalued-and-original-contribution-we/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [We are all potentially such sick men. The sanest and best of us are of one clay with lunatics and prison-inmates. And whenever we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/we-are-all-potentially-such-sick-men-the-sanest-and-best-of-us-are-of/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [In the dim background of our mind we know meanwhile what we ought to be doing: getting up, dressing ourselves, answering the person who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/in-the-dim-background-of-our-mind-we-know-meanwhile-what-we-ought-to/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [“Our minds thus grow in spots; and like grease-spots, the spots spread. But we let them spread as little as possible: we keep unaltered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/our-minds-thus-grow-in-spots-and-like-grease-spots-the-spots-spread/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [Circumstance does not make me, it reveals me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/circumstance-does-not-make-me-it-reveals-me/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > ['Facts' are the bounds of human knowledge, set for it, not by it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/facts-are-the-bounds-of-human-knowledge-set-for-it-not-by-it/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [Woe to him whose beliefs play fast and loose with the order which realities follow in his experience; they will lead him nowhere or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/woe-to-him-whose-beliefs-play-fast-and-loose-with-the-order-which/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [We never fully grasp the import of any true statement until we have a clear notion of what the opposite untrue statement would be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/we-never-fully-grasp-the-import-of-any-true-statement-until-we-have-a/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [It is your friends who make your world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/it-is-your-friends-who-make-your-world/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [Human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/human-beings-can-alter-their-lives-by-altering-their-attitudes-of-mind/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [Most people, probably, are in doubt about certain matters ascribed to their past. They may have seen them, may have said them, done them,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/most-people-probably-are-in-doubt-about-certain-matters-ascribed-to/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [“How soon, indeed, are human things forgotten! As we meet here this morning, the Southern sun is shining on their place of burial, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/how-soon-indeed-are-human-things-forgotten-as-we-meet-here-this/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [There can be no difference anywhere that does not make a difference somewhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/there-can-be-no-difference-anywhere-that-does-not-make-a-difference/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [It is wrong always, everywhere, and for everyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/it-is-wrong-always-everywhere-and-for-everyone-to-believe-anything/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [The pragmatist turns away from abstraction and insufficiency, from verbal solutions, from bad a priori reasons, from fixed principles, closed systems, and pretended absolutes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/the-pragmatist-turns-away-from-abstraction-and-insufficiency-from/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) [Explore all 854 William James quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) ## More Philosopher quotes > [Philosopher is a dictator who modifies accepted standards with his thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilkin-santak/philosopher-is-a-dictator-who-modifies-accepted-standards-with-his/) [Ilkin Santak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilkin-santak/) > [The world's history is a divine poem, of which the history of every nation is a canto, and every man a word. Its strains…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-garfield/the-world-s-history-is-a-divine-poem-of-which-the-history-of-every/) [James A. Garfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-garfield/) > [Each man is capable of doing one thing well. If he attempts several, he will fail to achieve distinction in any.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/each-man-is-capable-of-doing-one-thing-well-if-he-attempts-several-he/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [Divers philosophers hold that the lips is parcel of the mouth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/divers-philosophers-hold-that-the-lips-is-parcel-of-the-mouth/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“Since Pawlow and his pupils have succeeded in causing the secretion of saliva in the dog by means of optic and acoustic signals, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-loeb/since-pawlow-and-his-pupils-have-succeeded-in-causing-the-secretion/) [Jacques Loeb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-loeb/) > [To become a philosopher, start by walking very slowly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/to-become-a-philosopher-start-by-walking-very-slowly/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [When Eudæmonidas heard a philosopher arguing that only a wise man can be a good general, "This is a wonderful speech," said he; "but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plutarch/when-eud-monidas-heard-a-philosopher-arguing-that-only-a-wise-man-can/) [Plutarch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plutarch/) > [“Mr. Pickwick was a philosopher, but philosophers are only men in armour, after all.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/mr-pickwick-was-a-philosopher-but-philosophers-are-only-men-in-armour/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [And that, in a way, was the burden of being a philosopher: one knew what one had to do, but it was so often…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-mccall-smith/and-that-in-a-way-was-the-burden-of-being-a-philosopher-one-knew-what/) [Alexander McCall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-mccall-smith/) > [As our domestic fowls are said to have their original in the wild pheasant of India, so our domestic thoughts have their prototypes in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/as-our-domestic-fowls-are-said-to-have-their-original-in-the-wild/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [By all means marry; if you get a good wife, you'll be happy. If you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/socrates/by-all-means-marry-if-you-get-a-good-wife-you-ll-be-happy-if-you-get/) [Socrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/socrates/) > [“I am neither a philosopher nor a thinker, but simply follower of my own thoughts.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-f-moonzajer/i-am-neither-a-philosopher-nor-a-thinker-but-simply-follower-of-my/) [M.F. Moonzajer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-f-moonzajer/) > [I think that for thousands of years people have made the observation that there are certain kinds of extreme depressive states that seem to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kay-redfield-jamison/i-think-that-for-thousands-of-years-people-have-made-the-observation/) [Kay Redfield Jamison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kay-redfield-jamison/) > [The proof that a philosopher does not know what he is talking about is apt to sadden his followers before it reacts on himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-adams/the-proof-that-a-philosopher-does-not-know-what-he-is-talking-about/) [Henry Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-adams/) > [The idea that God resides in the unknown is what philosophers call the God of the gaps. And we have this thing called science,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/the-idea-that-god-resides-in-the-unknown-is-what-philosophers-call/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) [Browse all 2,194 Philosopher quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosopher/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There is only one thing a philosopher can be relied upon to do, and that is to contradict other philosophers.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William James" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/there-is-only-one-thing-a-philosopher-can-be-relied-upon-to-do-and/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Philosopher" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/there-is-only-one-thing-a-philosopher-can-be-relied-upon-to-do-and/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/21c/william-james-228_philosopher_there-is-only-one-thing-a-philosopher-ca_2379501.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/21c/william-james-228_philosopher_there-is-only-one-thing-a-philosopher-ca_2379501.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/21c/william-james-228_philosopher_there-is-only-one-thing-a-philosopher-ca_2379501.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There is only one thing a philosopher can be relied upon to do, and that is to contradict other philosophers.” — William James", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "William James", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "There is only one thing a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/there-is-only-one-thing-a-philosopher-can-be-relied-upon-to-do-and/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/there-is-only-one-thing-a-philosopher-can-be-relied-upon-to-do-and/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```