Ernest Nagel Quotes
Ernest Nagel was a Czech-American philosopher of science and one of the leading representatives of logical empiricism in the United States. After studies under Morris Cohen at City College and a doctorate at Columbia under John Dewey, he joined the Columbia faculty, where he remained for the rest of his career. The quotes below are attributed to Ernest Nagel, organized by topic.
Ernest Nagel on Knowledge
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Attributed to Ernest Nagel:
“Science is the systematic refinement of common knowledge.”
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Attributed to Ernest Nagel:
“To explain is to deduce a phenomenon from general laws and initial conditions.”
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Attributed to Ernest Nagel:
“Reduction unites the sciences without dissolving their distinctions.”
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Attributed to Ernest Nagel:
“Probabilistic reasoning is essential to all empirical inquiry.”
Ernest Nagel on Nature
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Attributed to Ernest Nagel:
“Naturalism, properly understood, is the philosophy of the scientific intelligence.”