“Although both the natural and moral sciences seek to understand the objects of their observation, in natural science the purpose of this is to be able to control them better, whereas in moral science it is, or ought to be, to be better able to leave them alone. The morally proper aim of psychology, then, is self-control.”

—  Thomas Szasz

"Science and Scientism", p. 115.
The Second Sin (1973)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Although both the natural and moral sciences seek to understand the objects of their observation, in natural science th…" by Thomas Szasz?
Thomas Szasz photo
Thomas Szasz 70
Hungarian psychiatrist 1920–2012

Related quotes

François-Bernard Mâche photo

“Myth does not set out to give lessons in natural science any more than in morals or sociology.”

François-Bernard Mâche (1935) French composer

Mâche, François-Bernard (1983, 1992). Music, Myth and Nature, or The Dolphins of Arion (Musique, mythe, nature, ou les Dauphins d'Arion, trans. Susan Delaney). Harwood Academic Publishers. ISBN 3718653214.

John Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton photo

“In the Moral Sciences Prejudice is Dishonesty.”

John Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton (1834–1902) British politician and historian

Postscript of letter to Mandell Creighton (5 April 1887), puplished in Historical Essays and Studies, by John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton (1907), edited by John Neville Figgis and Reginald Vere Laurence, Appendix, p. 505 http://oll.libertyfund.org/?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=2201&chapter=203934&layout=html&Itemid=27
Context: ADVICE TO PERSONS ABOUT TO WRITE HISTORY — DON’T
In the Moral Sciences Prejudice is Dishonesty.
A Historian has to fight against temptations special to his mode of life, temptations from Country, Class, Church, College, Party, Authority of talents, solicitation of friends.
The most respectable of these influences are the most dangerous.
The historian who neglects to root them out is exactly like a juror who votes according to his personal likes or dislikes.
In judging men and things Ethics go before Dogma, Politics or Nationality. The Ethics of History cannot be denominational.
Judge not according to the orthodox standard of a system religious, philosophical, political, but according as things promote, or fail to promote the delicacy, integrity, and authority of Conscience.
Put conscience above both system and success.
History provides neither compensation for suffering nor penalties for wrong.

Hans Kelsen photo
Subhash Kak photo
Ma Anand Sheela photo

“The aim of science is to falsify theories and to replace them by better theories, theories that demonstrate a greater ability to withstand tests.”

Source: What Is This Thing Called Science? (Third Edition; 1999), Chapter 6, Sophisticated falsification, novel predictions and the growth of science, p. 83

Related topics