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Philosophy is altogether less pure now. It's been impurified by science and social science and history.
Bernard Williams
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Philosophy has become influenced and complicated by the findings of science and social sciences.

In this quote, Bernard Williams suggests that philosophy today cannot be seen in isolation as it once might have been; instead, it is intertwined with various disciplines such as science, social science, and history, which challenge the traditional, pure forms of philosophical thought. This statement reflects the view that modern philosophical inquiry is increasingly shaped by empirical evidence and contexts that enrich or complicate its discussions.

Themes

PhilosophyScienceSocial ScienceHistoryInfluenceThought

In practice

Example use cases

During a university lecture on the philosophy of science.

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Virtually the only subject in which one could ever get a scholarship to Oxford or Cambridge was classics. So I went to Oxford to study classics and, unlike Cambridge, it had a philosophy component, and I became completely transported by it.
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