Nelson Goodman Quotes
Henry Nelson Goodman was an American philosopher who made fundamental contributions to logic, the theory of induction, the philosophy of language, and the philosophy of art. The Structure of Appearance developed a phenomenalist construction of the world in the spirit of Carnap; Fact, Fiction, and Forecast introduced the new riddle of induction with the famous predicate grue; and Languages of Art set out a general theory of symbol systems that took depiction, description, and exemplification as varieties of reference. The quotes below are attributed to Nelson Goodman, organized by topic.
Nelson Goodman on Knowledge
-
Attributed to Nelson Goodman:
“All emeralds examined before t are grue.”
Nelson Goodman on Truth
-
Attributed to Nelson Goodman:
“There are many ways the world is, and there is no neutral language for description.”
-
Attributed to Nelson Goodman:
“Worldmaking always begins from worlds already on hand.”
-
Attributed to Nelson Goodman:
“A symbol system, not a single symbol, is the unit of meaning.”
-
Attributed to Nelson Goodman:
“Realism is relative, determined by the system of representation in use.”