Just as the introduction of the irrational numbers ... is a convenient myth which simplifies the laws of arithmetic ... so physical objects are postulated entities which round out and simplify our account of the flux of existence... The conceptional scheme of physical objects is likewise a convenient myth, simpler than the literal truth and yet containing that literal truth as a scattered part.
More Quotes from Willard Van Orman Quine:
Language is a social art.Willard Van Orman Quine
'Ouch' is not independent of social training. One has only to prick a foreigner to appreciate that it is an English word.
Willard Van Orman Quine
Confusion of sign and object is original sin coeval with the word.
Willard Van Orman Quine
One man's observation is another man's closed book or flight of fancy.
Willard Van Orman Quine
If pressed to supplement Tweedledee's ostensive definition of logic with a discursive definition of the same subject, I would say that logic is the systematic study of the logical truths. Pressed further, I would say that a sentence is logically true if all sentences with its grammatical structure are true. Pressed further still, I would say to read this book.
Willard Van Orman Quine
We do not learn first what to talk about and then what to say about it.
Willard Van Orman Quine
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Based on Topics: Law & Regulation QuotesBased on Keywords: conceptional, postulated, simplifies
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