Quote#Science & Reason
Any question of philosophy ... which is so obscure and uncertain,…
Quote byDavid Hume · 1711–1776
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion (1779), Pamphilus to Hermippus, Prologue.
English (original)
Any question of philosophy ... which is so obscure and uncertain, that human reason can reach no fixed determination with regard to it; if it should be treated at all; seems to lead us naturally into the style of dialogue and conversation.
— David Hume
More from David Hume
The life of man is of no greater importance to the universe than that of an oyster.
The same good sense, that directs men in the ordinary occurrences of life, is not hearkened to in religious matters, which are supposed to be placed altogether above the cognizance of human reason.
Does a man of sense run after every silly tale of hobgoblins or fairies, and canvass particularly the evidence? I never knew anyone, that examined and deliberated about nonsense who did not believe it before the end of his enquiries.
A wise man's kingdom is his own breast: or, if he ever looks farther, it will only be to the judgment of a select few, who are free from prejudices, and capable of examining his work.
The sense of justice and injustice is not deriv'd from nature, but arises artificially... from education, and human conventions.
As to the Approbation or Esteem of those Blockheads who call themselves the Public, & whom a Bookseller, a Lord, a Priest, or a Party can guide, I do most heartily despise it.