It is complete nihilism to propose laying down arms in a world where atom bombs are around. It is very simple: there is no way of achieving peace other than with weapons. Karl Popper More Quotes by Karl Popper More Quotes From Karl Popper Man, some modern philosophers tell us, is alienated from his world: he is a stranger and afraid in a world he never made. Perhaps he is; yet so are animals, and even plants. They too were born, long ago, into a physico-chemical world, a world they never made. Karl Popper long-ago animal men Science may be described as the art of systematic over-simplification. Karl Popper crazy funny art No book can ever be finished. While working on it we learn just enough to find it immature the moment we turn away from it Karl Popper letting-go inspirational book It is a myth that the success of science in our time is mainly due to the huge amounts of money that have been spent on big machines. What really makes science grow is new ideas, including false ideas. Karl Popper growth science ideas I am opposed to looking upon logic as a kind of game. ... One might think that it is a matter of choice or convention which logic one adopts. I disagree with this view. Karl Popper views science thinking The method of science depends on our attempts to describe the world with simple theories: theories that are complex may become untestable, even if they happen to be true. Science may be described as the art of systematic over-simplification-the art of discerning what we may with advantage omit. Karl Popper simple science art The moral decisions of others should be treated with respect, as long as such decisions do not conflict with the principle of tolerance. Karl Popper tolerance decision long To give a causal explanation of an event means to deduce a statement which describes it, using as premises of the deduction one or more universal laws, together with certain singular statements, the initial conditions ... We have thus two different kinds of statement, both of which are necessary ingredients of a complete causal explanation. Karl Popper law science mean Our belief in any particular natural law cannot have a safer basis than our unsuccessful critical attempts to refute it. Karl Popper belief law natural Almost everyone... seems to be quite sure that the differences between the methodologies of history and of the natural sciences are vast. For, we are assured, it is well known that in the natural sciences we start from observation and proceed by induction to theory. And is it not obvious that in history we proceed very differently? Yes, I agree that we proceed very differently. But we do so in the natural sciences as well. Karl Popper well-known differences science Is the world ruled by strict laws or not? This question I regard as metaphysical. The laws we find are always hypotheses; which means that they may always be superseded, and that they may possibly be deduced from probability estimates. Yet denying causality would be the same as attempting to persuade the theorist to give up his search; and that such an attempt cannot be backed by anything like a proof. Karl Popper giving-up science mean There will be well-testable theories, hardly testable theories, and non-testable theories. Those which are non-testable are of no interest to empirical scientists. They may be described as metaphysical. Karl Popper metaphysical scientist may Psychologism is, I believe, correct only in so far as it insists upon what may be called 'methodological individualism' as opposed to 'methodological collectivism'; it rightly insists that the 'behaviour' and the 'actions' of collectives, such as states or social groups, must be reduced to the behaviour and to the actions of human individuals. But the belief that the choice of such an individualist method implies the choice of a psychological method is mistaken. Karl Popper mistake science believe Genuine philosophical problems are always rooted outside philosophy and they die if these roots decay. Karl Popper philosophical roots philosophy Plato felt that a complete reconstruction of society's political program was needed. Karl Popper program political plato I have learned more from Hayek than from any other living thinker, except perhaps Alfred Tarski - but not even excepting Russell. Karl Popper hayek i-have-learned thinker There can be no ultimate statements science: there can be no statements in science which can not be tested, and therefore none which cannot in principle be refuted, by falsifying some of the conclusions which can be deduced from them. Karl Popper conclusion principles science It is the rule which says that the other rules of scientific procedure must be designed in such a way that they do not protect any statement in science against falsification. Karl Popper scientific-method science way Contrary to the outstanding work of art, outstanding theory is susceptible to improvements. Karl Popper improvement theory art There is no history of mankind, there is only an indefinite number of histories of all kinds of aspects of human life. Karl Popper kind numbers history
