Philosophical argument, trying to get someone to believe something whether he wants to believe it or not, is not, I have held, a nice way to behave towards someone also it does not fit the original motivation for studying or entering philosophy. That motivation is puzzlement, curiousity, a desire to understand, not a desire to produce uniformity of belief. Most people do not want to become thought-police. The philosophical goal of explanation rather than proof not only is morally better, it is more in accord with ones philosophical motivation.
More Quotes from Robert Nozick:
It is, from another angle, an attack on requiring proof in philosophy. And it's also the case, I guess, that my temperament is to like interesting, new, bold ideas, and to try and generate them.Robert Nozick
From each as they choose, to each as they are chosen.
Robert Nozick
I think philosophers can do things akin to theoretical scientists, in that, having read about empirical data, they too can think of what hypotheses and theories might account for that data. So there's a continuity between philosophy and science in that way.
Robert Nozick
Certainly the emphasis I place in this chapter on coordination of behavior and cooperation to mutual benefit is something that ought to be very congenial to people in the libertarian tradition.
Robert Nozick
That connection between evolutionary cosmology and the theory of objectivity that I was formulating pleased and excited me a lot.
Robert Nozick
Readers Who Like This Quotation Also Like:
Based on Topics: Arguments Quotes, Belief & Faith Quotes, Curiosity Quotes, Desire Quotes, Motivational Quotes, People Quotes, Philosophy QuotesBased on Keywords: puzzlement
The constitution vests the power of declaring war in Congress; therefore no offensive expedition of importance can be undertaken until after they shall have deliberated upon the subject and authorized such a measure.
George Washington
People often thought Leopold Auer was Russian because he lived in St. Petersburg so long, almost fifty years.
Gyorgy Ligeti
There's always a race against time. I don't think for one moment that life gets better. How can it? One's body starts to fall apart.
Gloria Grahame