The whole life lies in the verb seeing.
Pierre Teilhard De ChardinRead
From a purely positivist point of view, man is the most mysterious and disconcerting of all the objects met with by science.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that humanity poses the greatest mysteries to science, more so than any other entity or phenomenon.
Pierre Teilhard De Chardin highlights the complexity and enigma of human existence from a scientific perspective. He implies that while science seeks to understand various phenomena, the nature of humanity remains uniquely challenging and puzzling, thus emphasizing the limitations of positivist viewpoints in fully grasping what makes us human.
Themes
HumanityMysterySciencePositivismPhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the limits of scientific understanding at a university lecture.
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If there is one thing I fear less than everything else, it is, I believe, persecution for my opinions. There are a good many points about which I may be diffident, but when it comes to questions of Truth and intellectual independence, there is no holding me - I can envisage no finer end than to sacrifice oneself for a conviction.
Pierre Teilhard De ChardinRead
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