“Our argument is not flatly circular, but something like it.”

— Willard van Orman Quine , Two Dogmas of Empiricism

"Two Dogmas of Empiricism", p. 26
From a Logical Point of View: Nine Logico-Philosophical Essays (1953)
Context: Our argument is not flatly circular, but something like it. It has the form, figuratively speaking, of a closed curve in space.

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 "Our argument is not flatly circular, but something like it." by Willard van Orman Quine?

Willard van Orman Quine 25

American philosopher and logician 1908–2000

Related quotes

“Our argument is not flatly circular, but something like it. It has the form, figuratively speaking, of a closed curve in space.”

Willard van Orman Quine Two Dogmas of Empiricism

"Two Dogmas of Empiricism", p. 26
From a Logical Point of View: Nine Logico-Philosophical Essays (1953)

“Faces come and faces go in circular rotation.
But something yearns within to grow beyond infatuation.”

Don McLean (1945) American Singer and songwriter

If We Try
Song lyrics, Don McLean (1972)

“He’s so beautiful,” she said wistfully. “He’s like an angel.”
“Yep,” I agreed flatly. “The one that fell.”

Karen Marie Moning (1964) author

Source: Faefever

“All my work keeps going like a pendulum; it seems to swing back to something I was involved with earlier, or it moves between horizontality and verticality, circularity, or a composite of them. For me, I suppose that change is the only constant.”

Lee Krasner (1908–1984) American artist

Lee Krasner, ‎Marcia Tucker, ‎Whitney Museum of American Art (1973) Lee Krasner: large paintings. Nr. 33. p. 8.

“Obviously something is wrong with the entire argument of "obviousness."”

Paul Lazarsfeld (1901–1976) American sociologist

Paul Lazarsfeld, "The American Soldier — An Expository Review", Public Opinion Quarterly, Volume 13, no. 3, (1949) pp. 377-404 at p. 380; About the interpretation of results in social science as obvious.

“The argument goes something like this: "I refuse to prove that I exist," says God, "for proof denies faith, and without faith I am nothing.”

Douglas Adams The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy pentalogy

Source: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

“Does some mysterious circularity in time connect consciousness and the very existence of the universe?
Most Neo-Pantheists like to think so.”

Peter J. Carroll (1953) British occultist

Source: The Apophenion (2008), p. 62
Context: Does the universe as a whole exhibit any kind of consciousness that we can interact with? Does the universe seek to evolve greater complexity and more sophisticated consciousness? Could it use some help from us in this? Do all species seem worth preserving regardless of their economic value to us? Does some mysterious circularity in time connect consciousness and the very existence of the universe?
Most Neo-Pantheists like to think so.