Confusion of sign and object is original sin coeval with the word.
Willard Van Orman QuineRead
It is one of the consolations of philosophy that the benefit of showing how to dispense with a concept does not hinge on dispensing with it.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Philosophy can help us understand and manage concepts without needing to abandon them entirely.
This quote by Willard Van Orman Quine reflects a foundational aspect of philosophical inquiry: the ability to analyze and even set aside certain concepts without losing their value or utility. Philosophy provides tools for understanding complex ideas, allowing us to see their shortcomings and re-evaluate their importance in our lives, thus giving us consolation and clarity in thought.
Themes
PhilosophyConceptsUnderstandingAnalysis
In practice
Example use cases
During a philosophy class discussion on the nature of knowledge and belief.
More from Willard Van Orman Quine
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For me the problem of induction is a problem about the world: a problem of how we, as we are now (by our present scientific lights), in a world we never made, should stand better than random, or coin-tossing chances changes of coming out right when we predict by inductions. . . .
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Language is conceived in sin and science is its redemption.
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Meaning is what essence becomes when it is divorced from the object of reference and wedded to the word.
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Creatures inveterately wrong in their inductions have a pathetic but praise-worthy tendency to die before reproducing their kind.
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What I'm saying to you this morning is that Communism forgets that life is individual. Capitalism forgets that life is social, and the Kingdom of Brotherhood is found neither in the thesis of Communism nor the antithesis of capitalism but in a higher synthesis.
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Moreover, metaphor is typically viewed as characteristic of language alone, a matter of words rather than thought or action. For this reason, most people think they can get along perfectly well without metaphor. We have found, on the contrary, that metaphor is pervasive in everyday life, not just in language but in thought and action. Our ordinary conceptual system, in terms of which we both think and act, is fundamentally metaphorical in nature.
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In economics, the majority is always wrong.
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Beware of listening to this impostor; you are undone if you once forget that the fruits of the earth belong to us all, and the earth itself to nobody.
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What is left over if I subtract the fact that my arms goes up from the fact that I raise my arm?
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