“Implication is thus the very texture of our web of belief, and logic is the theory that traces it.”
S. 41
The Web of Belief (1970)
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Willard van Orman Quine 25
American philosopher and logician 1908–2000Related quotes
“One test of good theory is that it have practical implications.”
Source: 1970s, Organizational Analysis: A Sociological View, 1970, p. vii
Context: It is surprising how much discipline is imposed upon theory by requiring that it ‘make a difference’ and provide guidance or useful illumination. I learned long ago from students in professional schools that questions of ‘so what’ or ‘what relevance does this have’ do not signify impatience with theory per se, much less anti-intellectualism, but only impatience with the obvious, general, remote, and vague statements that often parade as social science theory. One test of good theory is that it have practical implications.

God in Action: How Faith in God Can Address the Challenges of the World (2011) Ch. 1 "God in American Public Life," p. 33.

Source: The End of Science (1996), p. 66
Source: Social Amnesia: A Critique of Conformist Psychology from Adler to Laing (1975), p. 60
The Rationality of Induction, Oxford: Clarendon, 1986. Page 176, last paragraph.