“As soon as questions of will or decision or reason or choice of action arise human science is at a loss.”

Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "As soon as questions of will or decision or reason or choice of action arise human science is at a loss." by Noam Chomsky?

Noam Chomsky334

american linguist, philosopher and activist 1928

Related quotes

“Decisions in the American Courts are entitled to great respect, but are not binding here; and there are many circumstances affecting questions arising between the laws of different States which may or may not be applicable to questions arising here.”

Arthur Kekewich (1832–1907) British judge

In re De Nicols. De Nicols v. Curlieb (1898), L. R. 1 C. D. [1898], p. 410.

“Behind every managerial decision or action are assumptions about human nature and human behavior.”

Douglas McGregor (1906–1964) American professor

Source: The Human Side of Enterprise (1960), p. 33

“Global rationality, the rationality of neoclassical theory, assumes that the decision maker has a comprehensive, consistent utility function, knows all the alternatives that are available for choice, can compute the expected value of utility associated with each alternative, and chooses the alternative that maximizes expected utility. Bounded rationality, a rationality that is consistent with our knowledge of actual human choice behavior, assumes that the decision maker must search for alternatives, has egregiously incomplete and inaccurate knowledge about the consequences of actions, and chooses actions that are expected to be satisfactory”

Herbert A. Simon (1916–2001) American political scientist, economist, sociologist, and psychologist

attain targets while satisfying constraints
Simon (1997, p. 17); As cited in: Gustavo Barros (2010, p. 460).
1980s and later

“In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual.”

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

Third letter on sunspots (December 1612) to Mark Wesler (1558 - 1614), as quoted in Discoveries and Opinions of Galileo (1957) by Stillman Drake, p. 134 - 135; Italian text online at Liber Liber http://www.liberliber.it/biblioteca/g/galilei/lettere/html/lett08c.htm, also from IntraText http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ITA0188/_PQ.HTM. Variant translation: In questions of science the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual. As quoted in Biographies of Distinguished Scientific Men (1859) by François Arago, as translated by Baden Powell, Robert Grant, and William Fairbairn, p. 365 Other quotes Variant: In the sciences, the authority of thousands of opinions is not worth as much as one tiny spark of reason in an individual man. Context: for in the sciences the authority of thousands of opinions is not worth as much as one tiny spark of reason in an individual man. Besides, the modern observations deprive all former writers of any authority, since if they had seen what we see, they would have judged as we judge.

“What is leadership, after all, but the blind choice of one route over another and the confident pretense that the decision was based on reason”

Robert Harris Pompeii

Source: Pompeii

“The fine art of executive decision consists in not deciding questions that are not now pertinent, in not deciding prematurely, in not making decision that cannot be made effective, and in not making decisions that others should make. Not to decide questions that are not pertinent at the time is uncommon good sense, though to raise them may be uncommon perspicacity. Not to decide questions prematurely is to refuse commitment of attitude or the development of prejudice. Not to make decisions that cannot be made effective is to refrain from destroying authority. Not to make decisions that others should make is to preserve morale, to develop competence, to fix responsibility, and to preserve authority.
From this it may be seen that decisions fall into two major classes, positive decisions - to do something, to direct action, to cease action, to prevent action; and negative decisions, which are decisions not to decide. Both are inescapable; but the negative decisions are often largely unconscious, relatively nonlogical, "instinctive," "good sense."”

Chester Barnard book The Functions of the Executive

It is because of the rejections that the selection is good.
Source: The Functions of the Executive (1938), p.194, as cited in in Albert Lepawsky (1949), Administration, p. 626

“Justice alone knows liberty, equality, and fraternity, and justice is a human virtue arising from man's human capacity to reason.”

Milton Mayer (1908–1986) American journalist

I Think I'll Sit This One Out (1939)
Context: Justice alone knows liberty, equality, and fraternity, and justice is a human virtue arising from man's human capacity to reason. We cannot make sense out of justice by looking at the moon or taking dope or building battleships. We can make sense out of justice by using our reason to discover that justice, like wisdom, is better than rubies.

“From the midst of the flat plain of human reason, there arises the terrible, fire-spewing mountain of genius.”

Constantin Brunner (1862–1937) German philosopher

Source: Our Christ : The Revolt of the Mystical Genius (1921), p. 168

“I'll be damned if I apologize for the choices I've made. They were hard decisions, but I had good reasons for making them.”

Christine Feehan American writer

Source: Oceans of Fire

“Humans kill one another – and in some cases themselves – for many reasons, but none is more human than the attempt to make sense of their lives. More than the loss of life, they fear loss of meaning.”

John Gray (1948) British philosopher

In the Puppet Theatre: Roof Gardens, Feathers and Human Sacrifice (p. 87)
The Soul of the Marionette: A Short Enquiry into Human Freedom (2015)

“As soon as questions of will or decision or reason or choice of action arise human science is at a loss.”

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Noam Chomsky334

Related quotes

Related topics