“Interview with Milton Friedman”, Playboy magazine (Feb. 1973)
“The design of my philosophical life is based on an examination of the following question: is it possible to secure improvement in the human condition by means of the human intellect? The verb 'to secure' is (for me) terribly important, because problem solving often appears to produce improvement, but the so-called 'solution' often makes matters worse in the larger system (e. g., the many food programs of the last quarter century may well have made world-wide starvation even worse than no food programs would have done.) The verb ‘to secure' means that in the larger system over time the improvement persists.
I have to admit that the philosophical question is much more difficult than my very limited intellect can handle. I don't know what 'human condition' and 'human intellect' mean, though I've done my best to tap the wisdom of such diverse fields as depth psychology, economics, sociology, anthropology, public health, management science, education, literature, and history. But to me the essence of philosophy is to pose serious and meaningful questions that are too difficult for any of us to answer in our lifetimes. Wisdom, or the love of wisdom, is just that: thought likes solutions, wisdom abhors them.”
Source: 1980s and later, Thought and Wisdom (1982), p. 19; cited in Werner Ulrich (1998) '" C. West Churchman-75 years". in: Systems practice. December 1988, Volume 1, Issue 4, pp 341-350
Help us to complete the source, original and additional information
C. West Churchman 64
American philosopher and systems scientist 1913–2004Related quotes
C. West Churchman, "Operations research as a profession" (1970); cited in Arjang A. Assad, Saul I. Gass (2011) Profiles in Operations Research: Pioneers and Innovators. p. 181
1960s - 1970s
Opening Keynote Address at NGO Forum on Women, Beijing China (1995)
the happening world (15) “Equal and Opposite”
Stand on Zanzibar (1968)
“Good food is very often, even most often, simple food.”
Source: Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly
In an interview with Anup Kaphle for the 's economical growth. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/an-interview-with-bangladesh-pm-sheikh-hasina/2011/10/10/gIQAXAQRcL_story.html?utm_term=.15835fc2548d
Context: Since my last tenure we have been trying to find the root causes of poverty and how we could reduce it. We wanted to ensure food security so we put all our force into producing more food and also the distribution system so that food should first reach to the poorest of the poor. Then we tried to create job opportunities for them in the rural areas.