Elliott Sober Quotes
The indispensability argument says (roughly) that if you have ample reason to accept an empirical scientific theory that makes indispensable use of mathematics, and that theory entails that numbers exist, then you have ample reason to accept that numbers exist. The argument affirms the antecedent of this conditional, and concludes that you have ample reason to believe that numbers exist. What is striking about this argument is that it seems to show that the empirical reasons that suffice for accepting a scientific theory also suffice for accepting a metaphysical claim.
Quotes to Explore
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In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is.
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The reason can give nothing at all Like the response to desire.
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A lion is called a 'king of beasts' obviously for a reason.
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Essential to the theory of evolution is the premise that everything has come into being by itself.
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The writer isn't made in a vacuum. Writers are witnesses. The reason we need writers is because we need witnesses to this terrifying century.
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After you pay your E-ZPass bill, there is no reason for the government to keep records of your travel.
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When I do a workshop, there is always at least one author who comes up afterward and asks if I'll take a look at his or her book and consider blurbing it. For some reason, I can turn someone down in e-mail, but when he or she is looking me in the eye, I cave.
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I was pretty lucky to get into Berklee at all. I never really had any theory or music-reading capabilities; I was completely by ear.
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I was having an argument with my stepfather, and he was like, 'Why don't you join the Marine Corps?' And I was like, 'Noooo! Well, maybe, actually... ' I went and saw the recruiter, who was like, 'Are you on the run from the cops? Because we've never had someone want to leave so fast.'
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Every single note on this album is there for a reason.
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It is not rational to assume, without evidence, that rationality can disclose everything about the world, just because it can disclose some things. Our intuition in favour of rationality, where we are inclined to use it, is just that - an intuition. Reason is founded in intuition and ends in intuition, like a pair of massive bookends.
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Marriage is a series of desperate arguments people feel passionately about.
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I had this dream...that we had this new sixth member, for some reason, and he actually ended up being quite horrible! And he started a fight with me! And I wanted him to go away and none of the boys were helping me!
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I didn't die young. So I am very lucky. There are other artists and people that didn't survive certain things... people can imagine that I did the most dangerous, and I did the worst... for many reasons, I shouldn't be here.
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The fly in her argument is that when she says, 'they' will feel like lemons, we don't know who 'they' are. And 'they' might BE lemons.
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For centuries, everything was taught through music. History was taught through music; language and mathematics were taught through music.
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That which exercises reason is more excellent than that which does not exercise reason; there is nothing more excellent than the universe, therefore the universe exercises reason.
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A bad feeling is a commotion of the mind repugnant to reason, and against nature.
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It's not the most powerful animal that survives. It's the most efficient.
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I'm going to a dance." With Becky?" No, with Alexander." Who's Alexander?" The love of my life!
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The mere imparting of information is not education. Above all things, the effort must result in making a man think and do for himself.
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The indispensability argument says (roughly) that if you have ample reason to accept an empirical scientific theory that makes indispensable use of mathematics, and that theory entails that numbers exist, then you have ample reason to accept that numbers exist. The argument affirms the antecedent of this conditional, and concludes that you have ample reason to believe that numbers exist. What is striking about this argument is that it seems to show that the empirical reasons that suffice for accepting a scientific theory also suffice for accepting a metaphysical claim.
