Your corn is ripe today; mine will be so tomorrow. 'Tis profitable for us both, that I should labour with you today, and that you should aid me tomorrow.
David HumeRead
While Newton seemed to draw off the veil from some of the mysteries of nature, he showed at the same time the imperfections of the mechanical philosophy; and thereby restored her ultimate secrets to that obscurity, in which they ever did and ever will remain.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that while Newton advanced our understanding of nature, he also highlighted the limitations of mechanistic explanations, leaving some mysteries unsolved.
David Hume reflects on the contributions of Isaac Newton to the understanding of nature, acknowledging that although Newton was able to clarify certain phenomena, he simultaneously exposed the shortcomings of a purely mechanical view of the universe. Hume implies that there will always be aspects of nature that remain enigmatic and will elude complete understanding, suggesting a limit to human knowledge.
Themes
NewtonMysteriesNaturePhilosophyMechanicalKnowledge
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture on the nature of scientific inquiry, one could use this quote to illustrate the limits of mechanistic explanations.
More from David Hume
All quotes →Eloquence, at its highest pitch, leaves little room for reason or reflection, but addresses itself entirely to the desires and affections, captivating the willing hearers, and subduing their understanding.
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All that belongs to human understanding, in this deep ignorance and obscurity, is to be sceptical, or at least cautious, and not to admit of any hypothesis whatever, much less of any which is supported by no appearance of probability.
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The great end of all human industry is the attainment of happiness
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There is a very remarkable inclination in human nature to bestow on external objects the same emotions which it observes in itself, and to find every where those ideas which are most present to it.
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To have recourse to the veracity of the supreme Being, in order to prove the veracity of our senses, is surely making a very unexpected circuit.
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