Single Idea 7544

[catalogued under 12. Knowledge Sources / D. Empiricism / 5. Empiricism Critique]

Full Idea

There are many people who imagine that what they experience they also understand.

Gist of Idea

Many people imagine that to experience is to understand

Source

Wolfgang von Goethe (Maxims and Reflections [1825], 889)

Book Reference

Goethe,J. Wolfgang: 'Maxims and Reflections' [Penguin 1840], p.117


A Reaction

This should be posted over the arrivals gate of every international airport, for returning holiday-makers. It seems to place Goethe on the rationalist side of the debate with empiricism. It is hard to explain 'understanding' in Humean terms.