display all the ideas for this combination of texts
2 ideas
12770 | We may end up with a huge theory of carefully constructed falsehoods [Fraassen] |
Full Idea: The specter that faces us is that we may end up having explained all that is dreamt of in our philosophies by intricately crafted postulates that are false. | |
From: Bas C. van Fraassen (The Empirical Stance [2002], 1.5) | |
A reaction: This is more persuasive that Idea 12769. People who cannot bear to live with a total absence of explanation (with Keats's 'negative capability') are most in danger from this threat. |
4333 | Contraries are by definition as far distant as possible from one another [Aristotle] |
Full Idea: Contraries are by definition as far distant as possible from one another. | |
From: Aristotle (Nicomachean Ethics [c.334 BCE], 1108b33) | |
A reaction: A nice concept and definition. Note that it is being used about ethics (the mean), not just about pure logic or mathematics. |