Otto Neurath (1934:102), as cited in: Cartwright (2008;199)
1930s
“Science is a system of statements based on direct experience, and controlled by experimental verification. Verification in science is not, however, of single statements but of the entire system or a sub-system of such statements.”
Source: The unity of science, 1934/1995, p. 42
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Rudolf Carnap 21
German philosopher 1891–1970Related quotes
Otto Neurath (1931), "Soziologie im Physikalismus", in Erkenntnis, Vol. 2. p. 403; as cited in: Schaff (1962;84)
1930s
Source: Aphorisms and Reflections (1901), p. 148
Consciencism (1964), Introduction
Source: General System Theory (1968), 2. The Meaning of General Systems Theory, p. 18
Source: An Introduction To Probability Theory And Its Applications (Third Edition), Chapter VIII, Unlimited Sequences Of Bernoulli Trials, p. 198.
“The man of science has learned to believe in justification, not by faith, but by verification.”
On the advisableness of improving natural knowledge (1866) http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext01/thx1410.txt
1860s
Source: Collected Essays of Thomas Henry Huxley
Context: The improver of natural knowledge absolutely refuses to acknowledge authority, as such. For him, scepticism is the highest of duties; blind faith the one unpardonable sin. And it cannot be otherwise, for every great advance in natural knowledge has involved the absolute rejection of authority, the cherishing of the keenest scepticism, the annihilation of the spirit of blind faith; and the most ardent votary of science holds his firmest convictions, not because the men he most venerates hold them; not because their verity is testified by portents and wonders; but because his experience teaches him that whenever he chooses to bring these convictions into contact with their primary source, Nature — whenever he thinks fit to test them by appealing to experiment and to observation — Nature will confirm them. The man of science has learned to believe in justification, not by faith, but by verification.