“Philosophy — in every field of inquiry — is what you have to do until you figure out what questions you should have been asking in the first place.”

—  Daniel Dennett

Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking (2013)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update Oct. 30, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Philosophy — in every field of inquiry — is what you have to do until you figure out what questions you should have bee…" by Daniel Dennett?
Daniel Dennett photo
Daniel Dennett86
American philosopher 1942

Related quotes

David Levithan photo

“Getting what you want is just as difficult as not getting what you want. Because then you have to figure out what to do with it instead of figuring out what to do without it.”

David Levithan The Realm of Possibility

Source: The Realm of Possibility

“When the physicist poses the question, "What does it mean to do physics?" or "What is research in physics?" — his question is a preliminary question. Clearly, when you ask a question like that, and try to answer it, you are not "doing physics." Or rather you are no longer doing physics. But when you ask yourself, "What does it mean to do philosophy?" then you actually are "doing philosophy" — this is not at all a "preliminary" question but a truly philosophical one: you are right at the heart of the business.”

Josef Pieper (1904–1997) German philosopher

Source: Leisure, the Basis of Culture (1948), The Philosophical Act, p. 63

“First you find out what you have, Dad would say. Then you figure out how to make it work for what you need, 'cause you don't get what you want. You get just what you have and no more.”

Lilith Saintcrow (1976) American writer

Source: Betrayals

Ernest King photo

“I have a philosophy that when you have a commander in the field, let him know what you want done and then let him alone. I have two other philosophies. One is: Do the best you can with what you have. The other is: Do not worry about water over the dam.”

Ernest King (1878–1956) United States Navy admiral, Chief of Naval Operations

From Time magazine's interview with King, Volume XL, Number 23 (December 7, 1942), p. 32.
1940s

Ta-Nehisi Coates photo

“This whole thing about who should get a check, and should we cut checks, you know, I understand those questions. That’s great. Those people should support H. R. 40, though, because that’s what H. R. 40 does. It tries to get that figured out, and get that math figured out, and figure out the best way to do it. But if we don’t actually have a study, we can’t actually answer those questions. You can’t ask a doctor to make a diagnosis before there’s an actual examination.”

Ta-Nehisi Coates (1975) writer, journalist, and educator

Ta-Nehisi Coates: Reparations Are Not Just About Slavery But Also Centuries of Theft & Racial Terror, Democracy Now (20 June 2019)

Barbara Kingsolver photo

“Don't try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say.”

Barbara Kingsolver (1955) American author, poet and essayist

Stewart Brand photo

“Every interview with a public figure should include the question "What have you been wrong about, and how did that change your views?" The answer will tell us if the person is intellectually honest or a tale spinner with delusions of infallibility.”

Stewart Brand book Whole Earth Discipline

Whole Earth Discipline (2009), page 230.

Bhakti Tirtha Swami photo

“We should ask three basic questions of any system we encounter. The first question is, “If I am perfect at this practice, what can I expect to achieve?” Once you have heard the answer to this question, you may decide that you do not care to proceed any further, or you may find that the goal is exactly what you have always wanted. The second question is, “What are the means for attaining the goal?” The answer to this question enables you to decide whether you are willing to pay the price to get there. The third question to ask is, “Who has already reached the goal and how do they live their lives?” We should carefully scrutinize those who have supposedly reached the goal to discover their true situation in life. If we feel aligned with the answers to all three questions, then we can “go for it.””

Bhakti Tirtha Swami (1950–2005) American Hindu writer

If we do not, then we should look somewhere else.
Source: Books, Spiritual Warrior, Volume III: Solace for the Heart in Difficult Times (Hari-Nama Press, 2000), Chapter 8 - How To Strengthen Ourselves

“Ask yourself these three questions, Tatiana Metanova, and you will know who you are. Ask: What do believe in? What do you hope for? What do you love?”

Paullina Simons book The Bronze Horseman

Variant: Ask yourself three questions and you will know who you are. Ask 'What do you believe in? What do you hope for? But most important - ask what do you love?
Source: The Bronze Horseman (2001)

Galileo Galilei photo

“What has philosophy got to do with measuring anything? It's the mathematicians you have to trust, and they measure the skies like we measure a field.”

Galileo Galilei (1564–1642) Italian mathematician, physicist, philosopher and astronomer

"Matteo" in Concerning the New Star (1606)
Other quotes

Related topics