There never comes a point where a theory can be said to be true. The most that one can claim for any theory is that it has shared the successes of all its rivals and that it has passed at least one test which they have failed.
A.J. AyerRead
It is time, therefore, to abandon the superstition that natural science cannot be regarded as logically respectable until philosophers have solved the problem of induction. The problem of induction is, roughly speaking, the problem of finding a way to prove that certain empirical generalizations which are derived from past experience will hold good also in the future.
Interpretation
What this quote means
A.J. Ayer argues that the validity of natural science should not depend on philosophical solutions to the problem of induction.
In this quote, A.J. Ayer emphasizes the importance of natural science and its legitimacy as a field of knowledge, independent of philosophical debates, particularly regarding the problem of induction. The problem of induction questions how we can justify future predictions based on past experiences, and Ayer's statement advocates for a more practical approach, suggesting that scientific inquiry can continue to be valid without needing to resolve these philosophical issues beforehand.
Themes
SciencePhilosophyInductionKnowledgeEmpirical
In practice
Example use cases
In a debate about the foundation of scientific methods, A.J. Ayer's quote can be used to defend the practice of science despite philosophical critiques.
More from A.J. Ayer
All quotes →If 'god' is a metaphysical term, then it cannot be even probable that a god exists. For to say that 'God exists' is to make a metaphysical utterance which cannot be either true or false. And by the same criterion, no sentence which purports to describe the nature of a transcendent god can possess any literal significance.
A.J. AyerRead
In other words, the propositions of philosophy are not factual, but linguistic in character - that is, they do not describe the behaviour of physical, or even mental, objects; they express definitions, or the formal consequences of definitions. Accordingly we may say that philosophy is a department of logic. For we will see that the characteristic mark of a purely logical enquiry, is that it is concerned with the formal consequences of our definitions and not with questions of empirical fact.
A.J. AyerRead
The ground for taking ignorance to be restrictive of freedom is that it causes people to make choices which they would not have made if they had seen what the realization of their choices involved.
A.J. AyerRead
The only possible basis for a sound morality is mutual tolerance and respect: tolerance of one another’s customs and opinions; respect for one another’s rights and feelings; awareness of one another’s needs.
A.J. AyerRead
The traditional disputes of philosophers are, for the most part, as unwarranted as they are unfruitful.
A.J. AyerRead
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