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Simon Blackburn Quotes

born 1944 England

Simon Blackburn (born 12 July 1944) is a British academic philosopher known for his work in quasi-realism and his efforts to popularise philosophy. He recently retired as professor of philosophy at the University of Cambridge, but remains a distinguished professor of philosophy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, teaching every spring semester.

England
Philosophers

Random Simon Blackburn quote

28 quotes

A signpost doesn't in and of itself represent the way to the village. We have to learn how to take it.

Think (1999)

Thoughts are strange things. they have 'representational' powers: a thought typically represents the world as being one way or another. A sensation, by contrast, seems to just sit there.

Think (1999)

Nobody ever inferred from the multiple infirmities of Windows that Bill Gates was infinitely benevolent, omniscient, and able to fix everything.

Think (1999)

Induction is the process of taking things within our experience to be representative of the world outside our experience. It is a process of projection or extrapolation.

Think (1999)

We hope for lives whose story leaves us looking admirable; we like our weaknesses to be hidden and deniable... We want to enjoy our lives, and we want to enjoy them with a good conscience ... Ethics is disturbing.

Being Good (2001)

We think about what to do, and muster considerations and arguments in favor of one course or another. How are we to think about that?

Think (1999)

Chance is as relentless as necessity.

Think (1999)

There was content, but no container.

Think (1999)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Simon Blackburn (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.